Betrayed One's Rage
by Pyrrhos Nightmare Dragon
Summary: We all have our moments. Those moments from our greatest triumphs, and from our most depressing failures. For a young raven-haired teenager named Ash Ketchum, there are a lot more. Accused of killing his mother and best friend, he flees to the only shelter left to him: his Godfather. Smarter Ash. Darker Ash.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: Ok. I had originally written a betrayal story called Return of the Betrayed. But, I didn't like it all that much and scrapped it. So now I have this. Enjoy. Peace**  
_Ages:_  
_Ash-15_  
_May-14_  
_Dawn-13_  
_Misty-1_6  
_Brock-24_  
_Trip-15_  
_Iris-16_  
_Cilan-24_  
_Tracy-20_  
_Max-9_  
_Cyrus-30_  
_Jupiter-17_  
_Mars-17_  
_Saturn-20_  
Summary: We all have our moments. Those moments from our greatest triumphs, and from our most depressing failures. For a young raven-haired teenager named Ash Ketchum, there are a lot more. Accused of killing his mother and best friend, he flees to the only shelter left to him. His Godfather. Smarter Ash. Darker Ash.

* * *

"Pikachu is out! This battle goes to Trip Urban and his Serperior!"

Ash hung his head in defeat. Trip cheered. His two best pokemon had been taken down by Trip's starter. Despite how close he was to achieving his dream of winning the league, he was thwarted yet again. He walked out of the stadium in shame. He was taken down way to easily. He had competed in tournaments all over the world, and yet he never won any of them, with the exception of the Orange League and Kanto Battle Frontier. Sure, he came in close to winning, but he never actually won. He walked to his room in a depression. He was there alone. None of his friends had been able to come, as they were busy with one thing or another. Cilan had to return his restaurant and Iris was needed for some dragon festival back at her hometown. They all said that they would watch on TV though. He gave his pokemon to nurse joy on the way to his room. When Ash got up to his room he flopped down on his bed and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

Ash yawned and got out of bed, glancing at the clock. He'd slept for around five hours. He got dressed and headed down to grab a quick meal. He scarfed down his food and made his way to nurse joy's counter. She brought out his pokemon and Pikachu, who jumped on his shoulder, rubbing his cheek against his, feeling his depression. Ash petted his faithful partner and thanked nurse joy, making his way down to the pier, so as to catch the earliest boat back. He didn't want to stay here any longer than he wanted to now. There was a boat in 30 minutes. When it arrived, he got on and set off for Kanto.

* * *

**(Three days later...)**

The boat pulled up to the dock in Viridian City, docking and letting off it's passengers. Our favorite raven-haired trainer (Q: Are there any others?) walked off the dock and headed down the road through Viridian Forest, which had been built the previous year. He encountered Samurai again and spent the night in his house. After breakfast he set out again and made it out of the forest at noon. He trekked down Route One, but when he cleared the hill obscuring Pallet Town, Ash saw a plume of smoke in the air. He followed the source to... his house! The house was in ruins! Ash sprinted down the hill towards his house, fearing for his mother and Mr. Mime.

* * *

Ash arrived at the site, and dropped to his knees, devastated. The place that he had called home for 16 long years was in ruins. Only the chimney stood, and even that looked about to fall. He looked up as he heard something. It sounded like a muffled moan. The rubble shifted ever so slightly, but Ash saw it. He dashed over and started pulling away the debris, revealing... Delia Ketchum. His mother was cut an bruised everywhere. Her eyes met his and she mumbled his name.

"Ash... D-di-did you... find… Mimey?" Ash shook his head.

"No... I'm sorry, Mom..." Her eyes hardened and got teary. She sighed. "Well... I'll meet up with him soon, I'm afraid. I won't be around much longer... Ash... THEY did this..."

"Who? Who did this?!"

With her dying breath, the kind woman uttered,"Team Rocket..." At those words, almost as if they were a curse, the air got slightly colder, and a wind started up. Ash's beloved mother then drew a last shuddering breath, and was still. Her head in Ash's lap... eyes closed... no longer breathing. . He then heard footsteps, multiple sets. He turned his head and saw around a dozen people in black outfits with a big red 'R' on the front. Team Rocket. At the head of the group was Giovanni himself. He turned fully and spread out his arms, as if to protect his mother's body.

"What do you want? You've done enough damage here!" Ash shouted. Giovanni shook his head, stepping towards Ash. Ash took an involuntary step backwards.

"What do I want? I want your Pikachu. I also want you on Team Rocket. What do you say? Will you join us? Or will you die? It would be a shame to waste such talent, but it would be necessary. Well?" Giovanni asked. Ash opened his mouth to answer, but before he could however, he was interrupted by voices.

"Toxicroak, use Dark pulse!"

"Purguly, use hyper beam!"

"Skuntank, use flamethrower!"

Giovanni's attack force turned towards the voices, but were hit with the multitude of attacks. The combined power of the attacks caused an explosion, sending the dirt-bags off into the distance. Giovanni whirled back to face Ash, and threw a pokeball that had been clutched in his hand.

"Rhyperior! Hyper beam on that brat now! Full power!" A huge Rhyperior emerged, and fired a massive hyper beam towards the shocked trainer. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end… but strangely it didn't come. He felt himself shoved by a strong force. He opened his eyes, and gasped. Pikachu had pushed him out of the Hyper Beam's path… but ended up putting himself in danger instead. Ash watched helplessly as the beam enveloped his friend completely, lasting a full minute. Giovanni returned Rhyperior and raced off. Poor Pikachu was unmoving on the ground, badly charred and burned, looking very similar to Ash's mother's state. Ash gave an inhuman cry and started crying. His sorrowful wailing lasted for over an hour, until finally, he stopped. There were no more tears to cry, no more sorrow. All that was left in it's place was regret, anger, and hatred. He heard more footsteps, but this time they were rushed, like their owners were running. He looked over his shoulder to see all of his friends approaching, at least the ones that he had traveled with. May, Dawn, Misty, Brock, Iris, Cilan, Max, and Tracey. They were looking around at what used to be the Ketchum Residence, shocked. Then, their gaze fell upon Ash, with Delia's head in his lap still, and the poor mouse next to him. It hardened, turning into an emotion that Ash didn't recognize. After they looked at Delia and Pikachu they promptly walked away, to do Arceus knows what (and me). He sat there for a few hours, thinking about his poor mother and pokemon, as well as why his friends had just turned and left...

* * *

**Several hours later...**

Ash had long since gotten up and buried his mother's body. He had buried it next to the garden that she had cared for. He had also found Mr. Mime. The poor pokemon was in a state similar to Delia, but already gone by the time that the trainer had found him. He had buried him next to Delia. And for his beloved friend, Pikachu, he had given him a place if honor next to the forest, with a headstone that he carved letters into with a sharp knife that he found where the kitchen was.

_**Here lies Pikachu...**_

_**Who was the best friend and pokémon that a trainer could ask for...**_

_**He died protecting his friend...**_

_**R.I.P**_

* * *

**That night...**

Ash woke up in a daze. He looked around, trying to remember where he was. Then, the events of the day came crashing down on him. He let out a cry, and looked up from his position next to Pikachu's grave. He had been there for most of the afternoon, and it looked to be night time. He decided to head towards Prof. Oak's lab to ask him for a room, as his house obviously wasn't fit for sleeping in. He arrived at the lab and knocked. It took a couple minutes for someone to answer the door. He was about to knock again when it suddenly was thrown wide open, showing a tired looking Professed Oak there. He seemed surprised to see Ash, but stepped aside for him to come in.

"Ash. Come in, please."

"Thanks. Professor?" The old man looked at the boy. "Would you mind if I stayed here? At least until I can find more permanent housing?"

The pokemon professor seemed to stiffen for a second, but a second later relaxed. He nodded. "Of couse Ash. So long as other circumstances or events demand otherwise, that is." Ash nodded and stepped inside. He went up to the spare room and immediately crashed on the bed.

* * *

**The next day...**

Ash woke up. He got out of bed and headed downstairs, intent on breakfast. But when he got to the kitchen, he spotted his friends, Gary and Prof. Oak at the table talking. As soon as he entered the room they stopped talking and looked at him. He nervously got out a bowl and poured some cereal. He sat down at the counter facing the table. All the while the group at the table was watching him accusingly. He swallowed his last bits of cereal and spoke up.

"Ok. Seriously, what's going on? You've all been staring at me like I'm a criminal or something."

The group looked at each other, and Gary stood up. "That's because you are, Ketchum! Don't think that we don't know what happened between your mother and you!" He said, pointing a finger at him accusingly. This shocked Ash.

"What?! Nothing happened!"

May stood up. "Don't lie to us Ash. Tell the truth and the police will let you off easily. Don't and you will be in a cell for a very long time. Tell us why you killed your mother and Pikachu!" She shouted. The rest at the table nodded and glared at him. By this time Ash was near tears. His 'friends' thought that he killed his mother and best friend! To say he was shocked and pissed would be an understatement. He was beyond pissed off and hurt. They were supposed to be his friends! Why would they accuse him of killing the only parent he had left? And on top of that, the greatest friend he'd ever had?! By now a five minute silence had passed, and the others sighed.

"Alright, fine. If you won't tell us than you'll have to tell the cops." Brock said. An Officer Jenny appeared from nowhere and cuffed him. But Ash was prepared. He spun his arms over his head and turned at the same time, putting his arms in front of him. He ducked to doge the woman's taser and swept her legs out from underneath her, and slammed her head on the ground, knocking Jenny out for a couple of minutes. He turned back to his 'friends', and saw that they had pokeballs out.

"We didn't want to have to do this Ash, but you give us no choice. Give up or fight." Dawn said. Ash weighed the odds. He was outnumbered, and didn't have any of his pokemon with him. He wasn't going to prison, so Ash decided that a tactical retreat was in order. He sprinted out the back door. Those assholes that mislead him into thinking that they were 'friends' in hot pursuit. He ran into the forest, and made his way to the hive. He gave them quite the chase, but intentionally running slow to lure them in. When he was a child he had once accidentally stumbled onto a large Beedrill hive, but these weren't ordinary Beedrill. They were strong enough to go toe-to-toe with any of the pokemon that those punks might have. But, unlike other Beedrill, they were compassionate, and didn't attack him on sight, but rather welcomed him and showed him around. He became good friends with the entire hive, and they would help him with whatever he asked. And that was the case at the moment. He burst into the clearing, making a strange hum. It was answered back and what looked to be hundreds of Beedrill emerged into the clearing. The queen of the hive, Spire, came up to him.

'Ash, what is it? You looked distressed.' She said.

Ash caught his breath and replied, "You know those people I called friends?" She nodded. Then caught the past tense. She motioned for him to go on. "Well, my mother, in your terms Meema, was killed by Team Rocket, as well as Pikachu." At that, the hive buzzed angrily. They knew Pikachu personally, as Ash had brought him to visit several times. Then Ash went on, and their horror grew. They started to fly angrily. How dare those people accuse Ash of his mother's death?! There was hell to pay. He then explained his plan.

Spire said, 'Ash, we will do as you ask, and get them out of the way, while you make your escape.' She said. He nodded, and raced off. The hive faced their queen, who was mad now. She was extremely pissed at what those 'friends' of his did. She faced her hive, and declared, 'Form up men! We're going to give those fuckers what they deserve! Drive them out, however you wish! But do not leave the forest. We lose our advantage otherwise!' The hive buzzed in response, and took off.

* * *

Ash blundered blindly through the forest, not knowing or not caring where he was going, because he was to upset and couldn't see through the shower of tears anyway. He had put up a brave face for the Beedrill, and was to stunned at the time to cry at the lab, but now the floodgates were open. He tripped and fell on the ground face-first. The fall hurt, but he didn't care. Nothing could compare to the pain that he felt right now, courtesy of those jerks. He rolled over and stared at the canopy of leaves, and through it, he could see a couple of clouds. He continued crying throughout the morning.

"My friends hate me, I don't have any money, and I don't have any pokemon. I am now a wanted criminal, and can't appear in public. What am I going to do?" He asked himself.

"Well, you could come with us, if you want to." A man's voice said. He turned. Three people were standing there in the gloom. They stepped out of the shadows. Just when Ash thought he couldn't be anymore shocked, something else shocking came up. The three people who he thought had disappeared. The first figure was a woman with blood-red hair that reached her shoulders. The second was another woman, but she had purple hair that went down to the middle of her back. The final one was a man with dark blue hair. From first to last, they were Galactic Commander Mars, Galactic Commander Jupiter, and Galactic Commander Saturn.

"Jupiter? Mars? Saturn? What are you doing here?" Then the scene from his encounter with team rocket came back to him. "Wait a second. Were you the ones that took out the grunts in team rocket?" He asked. They nodded. "Well, thanks for the help. Now, what do you mean by come with you?" Mars spoke up.

"Well, we heard what happened with your 'friends', and what you said to yourself just now. So, we decided to offer you a new place to call home." She said. Ash nodded. They then noticed that unlike their last encounter, his warm brown eyes that used to be full of life, were now little more than dull, lifeless orbs. They realized how hard his friends betrayal was. They were drawn out of their thoughts when he spoke again.

"Alright. I'll join you. Take me to your boss." And after his words, bloodcurdling screams of horror and and pain came from farther out in the forest. The commanders recoiled at the sadistic grins that Ash got when the screams started. They decided not to ask what they were for, and departed from the forest.

* * *

**Galactic headquarters: location unknown…**

Cyrus sat forward in his desk expectantly. Before him was a teen who had foiled a great many of his plans. Now he was here, and his Commanders said that he wanted to join the ranks of Team Galactic. One could not even imagine the shock and sheer ectasy that went through his veins at that. But, he had decided to keep a calm and collected appearance until he was done with the interview. Now, normally he would just leave this task to the commanders, since they would want to know if the recruit would be suited for their squad or not. But he was planning on taking this one under his wing, if it was agreeable with Ash. He placed his hands on his desk and looked the raven-haired teen in the eye.

"So, Ash. You want to join Galactic, correct?" The boy nodded. "Well, then you just have to do one thing." Ash nodded again. "I want you to build up a new team. Get back into the trainer business. And start it off with a bang. You'll have a new starter, aquired through blood and sweat. I'll fill you in on the way there. Cool?"

"Okay. As long as you agree to no longer call me by that name. Ash Ketchum is dead. Call me Gray."

Cyrus nodded. He decided to tell him now, and allow him to get used to it. "Very well, Gray. I just need to inform you on one more thing. Before all of this-" he gestured to the room, "-happened, I was a very good friend of your father. Apparently, he named me your godfather, and told me that should he and your mother pass away before you were 18, I would be your legal guardian." By this point, Gray was shocked into speechlessness. "So what do you say, will you accept me as your godfather?" He asked, spreading out his arms and smiling. Gray got through his shock enough to say,

"I would like that. After the betrayal of my friends, I thought that I was alone." Now Gray smiled. "But I see now that that is not the case. I also see now that you had the right idea with this world's flaws. I would be honored if you were my Godfather. Thank you…" With that, he accepted the hug. They broke apart a few seconds later.

"There. Now, with that out in the open, we need to fake your death."

At this, Gray grew confused. "Why?"

"To cover your tracks. Unless you want the police or your former friends to find you." He added. Gray saw the wisdom in this and nodded. "Good. Now, let's get started."

* * *

**Whoo! *wipes sweat off forehead* This was fun and hard to write. A few notes. One, if you didn't notice, I changed my name. This was to throw off this stalker that I have at school. Two, I am going to take some time with my other story, The New Champion, chapters. I am having trouble with inspiration. Lastly, check out my friend's story, The Lost Champion. It is a Red story that takes place after the HeartGold/ SoulSilver character defeats him atop Mt. Silver. It is really good so far, in my opinion. Also, if you have any good pairing ideas for this story, PM me. Peace**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait! Thank you for all the positive feedback, reviews, favorites and follows! I honestly didn't expect to be that much of a hit, so you all made my day. I am planning on doing a reply to reviews I get for each chapter that would require a response, starting now.**

**Evie Warner: Thanks! And you're right, the Beedrill didn't kill them, just drove 'em off.**

**Peter Kim: Cyrus wasn't trapped in the new universe, just merely exploring. And no, unfortunately, Gray won't be getting back his originals, except for maybe one or two. His old pokés will just live at the Oak Ranch.**

**sUbSoNiCSoundwave: Thank you for the input. I just thought that the red alias was a little overused. Also, I plan on having Gray (Aka Ash) be slightly higher than the other commanders, on account of Cyrus. And that said godfather wanted to take him on as a personal student.**

**Nothing You Need to Know: Thanks for the compliments! And yeah, those Beedrill ARE awesome! Ha!**

**Ok, thank you again to all those people who subscribed favorited and reviewed my story. I think that I will set up a poll to decide on my pairing. Peace (I'm not a hippie. Saying 'Peace' does not make me one)**

**"Normal speech"**  
**'Pokémon talk'**  
**_Italics_ = Thoughts/Flashback**

* * *

A figure was visible in the pre-dawn light.

He was dressed in a tight-fitting black t-shirt that showed off his well-toned muscles, with a small blue 'G' above the heart. He had on loose blue jeans, with a chain around his waist, which was adorned with a multitude of pokéballs. He had a trench coat slung over one shoulder. The figure had short spiky gray hair, and the hair had streaks of blue in it. He had a pair of dark black sunglasses on his forehead.

His eyes were a bit strange. One (his left eye) was its normal brown, but with some blue around the edge, and his other one (his right eye) was a light gray color; and he stood at around 6' 1".

This man used to be known as Ash Ketchum, until that fateful day three years ago when he was accused of his mother's and Pikachu's death; and by the very people that he called friends, no less.

Now he was known merely by Gray. Gray Satoshi.

He had been taken in by Team Galactic and his Godfather, Cyrus, four years ago on that fateful day. In that time, he had risen through the ranks of Galactic faster than any previous member. Now, he was second in rank only to Cyrus. He was the fourth Galactic Commander. Commander Gray. In those long, hard four years he had built up an impressive team. And most of it was thanks to his starter, who had saved his life multiple times.

The mentioned partner, who's name will not yet be released, was in a ball that was in the middle of his chain.

A Lucario was on his left side. Cyrus had given him to Gray as a gift for completing his training in record time. Gray completed the training in a mere day, while normal recruits usually took several days to finish it. Lucario had helped Gray unleash his aura abilities early on, and Gray was now an Aura Guardian.

And on his right side was a Gardevoir. He had found her as a Kirlia. She had been attacked by a pack of Poochyena, and was gravely injured. Gray had found her and nursed her back to health, and she had been at his side ever since.

They all walked down the rest of the hidden trail on Stark Mountain to a dead end. Gray waved a card over a seemingly normal rock, and a hidden door opened in the rock face. The trio walked in and it closed behind them. They were now inside of Team Galactic's secret HQ in Mt. Silver. There were recruits and grunts everywhere, all bustling about. A few of them called out to Gray, but he, Gardevoir and Lucario ignored all of them and walked towards Cyrus' office.

* * *

The Galactic boss looked up from the paper he had been reading when the door opened.

Gray stepped in with Lucario and Gardevoir. He approached the desk and sat in the chair in front of it, Gardevoir and Lucario flanking him.

He looked around the room. His godfather had always liked to keep it simple. There was a room heater in the corner, a few chairs in front of the desk, a couch and 32" TV, and a mini-fridge. He pulled out the new additions, and passed them to Cyrus.  
"Here. 30 pokemon." He said in a gruff voice. It had gotten somewhat deeper over the years.  
Cyrus raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Wow, 30? I'm impressed." Gray nodded, accepting the gratitude. "Now, onto other business. Have you heard of the new tournament yet?" Gray shook his head. "Ok, so essentially those league officials are hosting a 'badass' tournament in three weeks in the Sinnoh region, on Half-moon Island, which is rumored to have a Darkrai inhabiting it. It would be a valuable addition to your team and to Galactic. You also have an invitation to attend this tournament. It would be good battle experience for you. And it would help if we can find out if there might be any major threats to the team. You also should try and steal as many strong pokémon as you can. Plus, I heard some wanna-be team has started up. With Aqua and Magma disbanded, and Rocket's strength dwindling, they will be the major threat to this organization. Rumor has it that they give speeches on pokemon 'liberation' everywhere they go. So it shouldn't be too hard for you to find them."  
Gray sighed. "Very well. Is there any sort of catch?" He asked.  
"Yes. Your former friends will be participating. Gary, Max, and Ritchie. Also, as I understand it, Paul and Trip, your former rivals, are too. There will also be some elite fours and Champions there, so keep an eye out. Are you sure you'll be able to maintain your cover? I could send someone else."  
At this, Gray got mad. Gardevoir put her arm around him to calm him down. 'Master, no need to get worked up over it. You're past that now, remember?' She said.  
It worked, of course. She was good at it. He gave her one of his rare smiles.

"Of course I will." He said, smirking. Cyrus smirked as well. He gave the invitation to Gray. Gray read it over and pocketed it. "Very well. I will get there by the usual means, if that's ok with you." Cyrus nodded, and Gray departed with Lucario by his side and Gardevoir on his arm. Cyrus chuckled to himself. He wondered how long it would take Gray to figure out that Gardevoir likes him. Same with his eeveelutions, for that matter.

* * *

Gray walked out of the HQ, pulling his sunglasses back over his eyes and swinging on his trench coat.

It- the trench coat was a rather special one. Cyrus had given it to Gray as a birthday present for his second year in Galactic as well as his seventeenth. The coat didn't just have sentimental value either. It was fire resistant, weather proof, shock proof, and had REALLY big pockets. There was some kind of new technology that enhanced the space in there. So while it looked like it could barely fit a pack of gum, it could really fit a TV set. It also cut down the weight by 85%, so it FELT like a pack of gum was in the pocket. It was very useful.

He walked towards the helipad, pulling out a pokéball from the chain on his waist, and threw it.

Out came his Murkrow. He didn't like his pokéball, so was out of it as much as possible. He only went in it when in the Galactic HQ, as the grunts were severely scared of him and refused to interact with Gray unless Murkrow was in his pokéball. And this was for a good reason. A grunt that had been in Galactic for several years but never increased in rank had once made the mistake of challenging Gray's authority.

He had said that Gray wasn't fit to be commander, due to his age and 'lack of experience'. Murkrow had heard this and gotten mad, and had pecked the man into a coma. That was last year, and the man had only recovered last week. Murkrow flew up to his favorite perch on Gray's right shoulder. Gray had the clothing on that side specially made to resist Murkrow's claws, as he had a tendency to tighten them when he got mad, and had cut Gray this way multiple times.

Gray made his way over to the helipad and to the helicopter waiting for him. He stepped inside with Lucario and Gardevoir and noticed that there was another passenger. She had red hair that went down to her shoulders, and wore a Galactic executive outfit.

"Mars? What are you doing here?" Gray asked. She looked up.  
"Oh, there you are. You're late. To answer your question Cyrus asked me to accompany you, if that's alright with you." Gray nodded.  
"Not at all. I was merely curious." He said. Mars gave a mental sigh of relief. She was afraid that he would say no. Gray sat down in the seat next to her, and gave the pilot the okay. The pilot started up the helicopter, and they were off. Gray leaned back, placing Murkrow on the bar in the middle of the helicopter, put his sunglasses over his eyes, and took a nap.

* * *

Mars smiled at her sleeping colleague. He looks kind of cute like that, she thought. Then she berated herself. What am I thinking? Have I gone soft? Then she noticed Gardevoir glaring at her.  
"What?"  
'Don't even think about it. He's mine.'  
"What are you talking about? I don't like-"  
'Yes, you do. I read your emotions, and so I know you do, even if you don't. So back off. As I said, he's mine.'  
This unsettled Mars, but she let it drop.

* * *

Same time, on the boat to Sinnoh…

"Attention passengers; we will be arriving at our destination this afternoon. Please make sure that you have all of your belongings and pokemon before you exit the boat. Thank you for listening and choosing the S.S. Argo, and have a nice day." The intercom buzzed. A group of people were getting their belongings together at that and making sure that they had their tickets. The group of people happened to be our antagonists; Max, May, Misty, Dawn, Brock, Gary, and Ritchie. They had all been traveling together after 'the incident', as they called it.

A year after it; Max started his journey, with the Ralts (male) that he had befriended when he had journeyed through Hoenn before with Ash. They had all grown up in the three years that had passed. Brock had become a famous breeder, well known for his unique techniques. May and Dawn had become top coordinators. Gary had become an official pokémon researcher. Misty had raised her gym into one of the strongest in Kanto. And Ritchie had just trained. Their physical states had also changed. May has developed a nice C size that had most guys falling head-over-heels for her. Dawn had an impressive D that had guys that looked too long pass out or get bloody noses. Misty was behind them by a little, with a B size, but she didn't let it get her down.

The group had gotten a lot closer in the three years since their mistake, and not a day went by without them shedding a tear or two over it. They finished getting their things together and went out onto the deck.

* * *

An hour later, back in the helicopter…

Mars was lying on the bench inside of the helicopter peacefully.

This was the most relaxing that she had had in a long time, she reflected. It was nice, being able to just sit back and relax. She then started to think about those 'friends' of Gray's. She hoped that they were suffering from their blunder.

She didn't let that disturb her peace, though. But someone else did, because at that moment, Gray violently thrashed on his bench, and one of his arms accidentally connected with her face, sending her to the ground.

Gardevoir was immediately at his side, holding his head and whispering soft words to him, while Mars sat on the ground rubbing her nose. After a little while, Gray settled back into an uneasy sleep, but a state of sleeping nonetheless. Mars was concerned. Gardevoir continued holding him and Lucario sat up. She decided to ask him a question. (Lucario is able to communicate to people with his aura)  
"Uh… Lucario? What happened to him just now?" The pokemon sighed.  
'Well… it's a little complicated. About a month after the death of his mother and Pikachu, he began to get horrible, terrifying nightmares, and they all centered around the betrayal of his friends. And, it was around that time that his hair started to turn from black to gray.' Mars cut in.  
"Wait, I thought he dyed it? No one's hair can be that color at his age, right?"  
'Unfortunately, that is not the case. Extreme trauma and sorrow can cause early hair color loss. And, as luck would have it, Gray did. After the terror, trauma and sadness from the first dream, he started to become more stressed. His hair started to turn gray, and it wound up like it is today. And yes, it still grows.' Lucario said. She thought about that for a moment. She looked at the sleeping commander again. She noticed something else about his hair.  
"Ok... But what about the blue? You said that his hair lost color, and yet there is streaks of blue in it."  
'Yes, that is a valid point. When he had black hair still, that wasn't visible. When he first discovered his aura in the Tree of Beginning, those streaks developed. And over time the blue darkened.' Lucario replied. Lucario took a minute to let it sink in. After what he thought was a good amount of time, he prompted her to speak again. 'So… is there anything else that you want to know? He should wake up soon.'  
"Well... How often does he suffer? From the dreams?"  
'Good question again. Well, if remember correctly, he gets them about every other week, usually once or twice, but sometimes they actually stick around an entire week. Afterwards he is a lot more rude and cold, so don't get on his bad side after one. Actually, just avoid getting him mad altogether.' Lucario advised.  
Mars ran that over in her head, and was about to ask another question when Gray stirred. Gardevoir helped him sit up. He looked around groggily.  
"Lucario, are you finished giving away private info?"  
He stiffened. 'Um... Well, yes. But, she was genuinely curious and I thought that it would be best for her to know since you two will have to work together for a while on this mission.'  
"Fine. How much longer until we reach the place?" Gray asked the pilot.  
"Oh, about an hour; maybe two." He said. Then he said to Mars, "Commander, with all due respect, shouldn't you change? This, from what I was told, is supposed to be an incognito mission." He said. Mars looked down at her Galactic Commander attire.

She did agree that it would be a dead giveaway on sight… though she liked the outfit. It was pretty much all that she had worn for 3 or 4 years. But, again, the pilot had a point. The outfit was for more public and HQ appearances. Not undercover material whatsoever. Of course, she did have some clothes underneath, but it was only an old t-shirt and a skirt (which was part of the uniform). She was taken from her thoughts by the pilot again.

"Also, no offense, but use a different name too. Mars isn't exactly a common name. How about you call yourself Rose, or how about Cherry? Both would be good cover names, they can be easy to remember." The pilot explained. Mars gave that some thought. She liked both names, so she decided to ask for some help. She turned her head towards Gray, her mouth opened to ask, but he beat her to it.  
"Well, personally I think that Rose might be the better of the two. But still, your choice."  
"How did-"  
"Easy. I'm an Aura Guardian, remember? I can read thoughts and emotions with my aura." He said. That made her start. If he read her thoughts, what else did he know?  
"Well, I usually only do it when I need to or want to. So, to answer, no, I didn't read anything except just now. Don't worry." Gray said, smirking. Mars heaved a mental sigh of relief.  
"Ok. Just... Just don't do it to me again, ok? And thanks for the suggestion. I'll go with Rose. And as for my clothes, I guess that I'll buy a pair at the local mall."  
As she finished speaking, she noticed that Gray had paled. She remembered his past experiences with shopping, and gave a small laugh.  
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not a crazy shopper like those other girls." She spat out girls with venom, like a cuss word. "I'll just get one or two pairs of outfits and that will be it, ok?" She said. He nodded gratefully, not wanting to go through that experience again. He turned to the pilot.  
"Can we take a detour to a clothing store first? Mars needs a new wardrobe." Gray said. The pilot nodded.  
"We're passing over right now, should I land?"  
"Yes. I can see a helipad on the rooftop. Land and wait for us. It'll take five minutes. Ten max." The pilot nodded again and started to descend.

* * *

Ten minutes later…

Gray and Mars (Aka, Rose) were walking back to the chopper. Gray was holding two shopping bags. One was his and the other was Mars'. Gray had decided to pick up an extra set of clothes in case something happened to his current attire. Mars turned to Gray.  
"Gray? Should I change now, or when we get there?"  
"Well, I would think that now would be better, since there will be a lot more people at the stadium and hotel than here. I mean, come on, look around there isn't anyone else here." She looked around. True, there wasn't anyone there. And there was a changing stall across the room.  
"Ok then. I'll just go over there and change." She said, heading over to the stall. Gray nodded and sat down in one of the extremely comfortable chairs in the middle of the room, waiting for her to finish.

* * *

Some three minutes later…

Mars was stepping out of the changing stall when she heard a moan. It sounded like the owner of it was in a very peaceful/blissful state of being. She walked around the corner and saw...

* * *

_Scene freezes. Author walks up to the viewer's screen.  
"Hello there. I'm the author of this story, Pyrrhos. Or, at least, that is what I like to call myself. Now, for the reason I stopped this scene just now: I wanted to tell all you perverts and other hormone crazies that this fic is rated T FOR GOD'S SAKE! Get those images out of your head! Thank you. That is all."  
Author walks off scene and hits a hidden button, unfreezing this story._

* * *

She walked around the corner and saw...  
Gray sitting in a massage chair. He was sitting back in the chair with his eyes closed, so she decided to pull a little prank. She walked around behind him with a pincher that she had found in the dressing room. She leaned down to pinch his neck with it... when suddenly his hand shot out and grabbed it from her hand! He opened his eyes, and she noticed that there was a cold look in them.  
"Remember, Mars. Even if your target looks out of it unaware of their surroundings, they still could be very well aware. Got it?" She nodded.  
"Good. Now, you ready?" He asked, looking over what they bought for her. She was wearing black jeans with a pair of running shoes. She had on a red t-shirt that hugged her figure and showed her curves a lot better than her last outfit, and with a small "G" over the heart, much like Gray's had.

Also like Gray, she had a chain around her waist with her pokéballs on it. To finish it off, she had an earring of the planet Mars on her left earlobe. All in all, she looked stunning. Much better than in her last outfit. She noticed his searching look and blushed slightly. She slapped him lightly, and walked towards the helipad.  
"Pervert. I'll be in the helicopter." She said, walking away with her bag. Gray was in a daze for a few moments before realizing that she left. He grabbed his bag and raced towards the helipad.

* * *

With the gang... Also known as the betrayers...

"Brock? Can we stop now_, please_? My feet hurt!" May whined.  
"Sure. Why not? I'll make some lunch too." He said. The girls collapsed to the ground with an exhausted sigh. Max shook his head at their weakness. It seemed like they had no stamina at all these days. Here are these girls, who are at least three years older than him, that can't even keep a steady pace for more than a few hours, while he could easily keep going for another hour! Alright, calm down Max. No need to get worked up over how lazy/weak they are. It eventually just leads to-... He cut himself off.

He wouldn't - couldn't - think about Ash. It just brought up bad memories. He still wondered where the trainer had gone to. He hoped that it was a nice place. After all, no one deserved it more than he. He wondered what actually happened that night; when Mrs. Ketchum was killed. Pikachu as well. After three years, they had only just accepted the thought that Ash may not have killed his mother and Pikachu. But, there still wasn't any evidence to say on, seriously! Max could've kept walking for at least another half-hour a few years ago. And he was nine! otherwise, so the group was still convinced. That was when he remembered the Beedrill, and barely suppressed a shudder. Even with a tiny understanding of pokemon speech, he was able to clearly get the message. The Beedrill were with Ash, and they weren't happy about his treatment. He still remembered when they had appeared, bloodthirsty for vengeance...

* * *

(Flashback)

_"We didn't want to have to do this Ash, but you give us no choice. Give up or fight." Dawn said. Ash sprinted out of the kitchen, with them in pursuit. Max was holding the pokéball containing Ralts. The little guy had appeared on his doorstep before he set out for Pallet with May. Through weak telepathy, he had managed to tell them that Kirlia and Gardevoir were captured by some strong trainers and that they had left him thinking he was too weak to be of any use to them. He knew he wouldn't be able to survive on his own, so had decided to try and find Max. Back to the chase, he saw Ash run into the woods on the far side of the ranch. How can he run so fast? Max wondered. And it seemed as if he was TRYING to let them catch up. Max shook his head, clearing away the thoughts. They reached the forest, and found a small trail, which looked extremely fresh, as if it had just been made. They followed it for a few minutes, until they heard a buzzing sound. The group stopped, looking around. Max felt Misty suddenly stiffen next to him, and then she screamed. The group whirled to see what she was looking at and screamed as well. There was a huge swarm of Beedrill soaring out of the bushes and trees. The Beedrill were abnormally large, too. Max thought, terrified. They all screamed again, and started sprinting back down the path, the Beedrill in hot pursuit. They were all still screaming, but none of them were as loud or as terrified as Misty, with her huge fear if bugs. Speaking of which, did Ash run into these bugs too? Or could he have sent them on us? Max wondered. The group got lost twice, and the Beedrill nearly got them. May had tripped once and twisted her ankle, so Blaziken had to carry her. Then, Dawn had to slow down from exhaustion, and Gary had to carry her. It took a full hour until they made it out, and by then they were all beaten up, injured, hungry, thirsty, and tired. They all took a minute to catch their breath, which was coming out in ragged gasps. Finally, one of them spoke up.  
"THIS IS WHY I HATE BUGS! NOTHING GOOD EVER COMES FROM THEM!" Misty screamed. The others just nodded wearily, too tired to disagree, which they didn't._

(End Flashback)

* * *

An hour later...

"Sir, we have reached the hotel where you and Commander Mars will be staying. Anything else you need, sir?"  
"No; thank you Holland. That will be all. You may return to HQ after our items have been unloaded." The pilot nodded and landed in front of the hotel. Needless to say, there were quite a few passerby's that were standing there, gawking. A swift glare from Gray sent them on their way, though. He helped Mars/Rose down from the chopper and grabbed his trench coat, swinging it back on.

It had his stuff in it, so that was pretty much all he had to carry. They walked to the front doors, but Gray stopped cold when he heard a voice. Well, rather a group of voices. A group of voices that he hoped to never hear again. _With the exception of their screams while I killed them of course,_he thought. He turned his head, looking at the voices owner. He saw the group of his old so called 'friends' heading towards the hotel, chatting loudly and cheerfully. His rage immediately surged, and his pokemon decided to take action before it got out of hand. Gardevoir gently wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and Lucario tensed, in case a fight did break out. Murkrow just tightened his claws and remained silent. The pokemon led their trainer away into the hotel, with an amused Mars behind them.

Even with all of his macho-ness, the guy was a big softy when it came to his pokemon.

* * *

"_Finally!_ We're here!" Dawn exclaimed. She and the other girls had been complaining constantly during the past hour, and it was a relief for all of them to finally get there.  
"Yes Dawn, we all know how happy you are to be here. Same for the rest of you too. No need to say how glad you are to be here." Brock said. "Now then, let's go get our rooms and have our pokemon healed up. The tournament starts in a few days, so you three could get in some more training." They nodded and continued walking towards the hotel.

* * *

'Master, why are you still so mad? We fixed this issue, remember?' Gardevoir asked. Gray nodded, and replied mentally,  
"I know Gardevoir. I thought we did to. It's just that it's really hard to ignore the anger. Especially when it's _them_." She nodded, understanding what he meant. She briefly embraced him, both to comfort him, and because she wanted him to realize that SHE was the person... well, pokemon, that was always there for him when he needed it. He briefly returned it.

The two broke apart about a second later. Gray gave her a nod of gratitude before walking over to the desk, Murkrow still on his shoulder and Gardevoir and Lucario flanking him. The clerk looked up from her paper that she had been reading. She smiled at him.  
"Hello. Welcome to the Arc Hotel. How may I help you today?" She asked.  
"I'd like to get the keys for my room and my friend over here." Gray said.  
"Of course. Is there a name under the reservations, or is it in paper?" She asked. Gray handed her the paper that Cyrus gave to him. The clerk read it over and nodded, pulling out two electronic room keys.  
"Very well. Here is your key, room 7, floor 5; and here is your friend's, room 10, floor 5. We hope that you have a nice stay." She told him.  
"Thank you." He replied. He turned and walked back towards Mars, but not before noticing the slight blush on the clerk's face. He smirked mentally. He still had his charm.

After giving Mars her room key, the two walked into the elevator, pressing the seventh floor button. The elevator jolted a little before starting it ascent. When it stopped on seven, the two got out, walking down the hall. Upon reaching room 7, Gray turned to Mars.  
"Well, this is mine. Down the hall is yours. Anything you want to ask?" Mars shook her head. "Okay then." And he turned and walked into his room, and Mars walked down the hall to hers.

* * *

In the lobby...

"Hello. My name is Olivia. How may I help you today-" The clerk was cut off, however, when the squinty-eyed-man grabbed her hands and knelt before her, stars in his eyes.  
"Oh Olivia, my love... Come with me on the road of love- ACK!" Brock's body arched upward as he was jabbed in the back by his Toxicroak, then was pulled backwards by Misty and Max pulling on his ears. The **'keep Brock away from girls'** squad walked off with him. The rest of the gang sweat dropped and turned back to the clerk, who was now glancing at them nervously. Gary cleared his throat.  
"Er, sorry about that. He's got hormone issues. Anyways, we'd like a few rooms to stay in." He said. She nodded.  
"Ok then. How many?"  
"Just two. We'll share."  
"Very well then. Here you are. Rooms 8 and 9 on floor 5. We hope you enjoy your stay." She said, giving them a smile.  
Gary nodded, taking the electronic key cards.

* * *

Inside Gray's room...

"Aah... This is a nice bed... Now then, time to catch up on sleep..." The fourth commander muttered. He was lying in his suite's king-sized bed, limbs splayed out in position that was only comfortable for him. Just as he was about to drift off, though; a loud amount of talking resonated down the hallway. At first, he tried to ignore it, but it only got closer and louder.  
"GODDAMN IT! CAN'T I EVEN GET A LITTLE SLEEP AROUND HERE?!" He stormed out his oh-so comfortable bed towards the door.

He unlocked it and threw it open. He stuck his head out the door and looked down the hallway at the perpetrators, who froze at his harsh glare.  
_So,_ he thought ruefully. _THEM.__  
_He turned his head fully towards them, rage starting to boil. He sensed Gardevoir behind him, ready to intervene if he got too pissed. He waved her off with the arm that was out of sight.  
"WHY THE _HELL_ ARE YOU ALL SO LOUD?! PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO _SLEEP_!" He yelled at them. They shuffled nervously, and one spoke up.  
"W-well... Sir… it's not _that_ late out yet. We didn't know-" Gray cut him off with a glare, and the boy shrunk back, deciding to hide behind his sister.  
"_Damn right_ you didn't, or you wouldn't have made a peep. But, now you know _NOT_ TO DISTURB MY SLEEP!" He roared. They all shrank back a little, and seeing that his job was done, said "Oh, and Rose? You didn't have to come out. I had it covered." The group turned around, and saw an angry Rose (Mars) standing behind them, large mallet held at her side. She looked at him.  
"Yeah, well, it was _my _sleep too, Gray. But whatever, I'll be back in my room." She said, turning and walking back into her room, slamming the door behind her. The gang chuckled nervously until Gray sent them another withering glare. He turned and walked back into his room, slamming the door as well.

* * *

In the hall...

They all stood there for a few seconds, processing what had just occurred. Max spoke up.  
"Well… th-that wa-was in-interesting… I guess that they're our neighbors for the tournament..." He stammered. The rest of the group warily nodded, just as scared. Gary stiffly handed the girl's room key to them, said goodnight, and walked into the guys room, which was next-door to Gray's. The rest of them did the same, with their respective rooms. The guys immediately fell asleep, from both exhaustion and terror. The girls stayed up an hour gossiping as to why Gray and Rose were so mean.

* * *

The next day…

Gray sat up in his bed, stretching. He yawned and walked over to the bathroom to freshen up. Afterwards, he grabbed his trench coat and made sure that all of his pokéballs were in it, and headed out. But as soon as he got out the door however, he was collided with someone. He hit the ground and his head went back and slammed onto the floor. He groaned and swore. He sat back up, albeit with some difficulty, and glared at the person. He got a glare right back.

"Do you normally knock people down?" the person asked. Gray noticed that it was a girl round his age. She had on a round hat with half of a pokéball symbol on it, as well as a sleeveless blue shirt that went down to her waist. Completing her outfit was a red skirt and yellow shoulder bag. She had long brown hair and blue eyes, as well as a decent rack.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" She said. With a start, Gray realized that he'd been staring and looked away. She sighed and stood up.

"Alright, fine don't answer me. My name's Leaf. What's yours?" Gray remained silent however, and just stood up, and started to walk away. _Definitely the silent type_, Leaf thought. _He's just as bad as Red. Speaking of which, maybe he'll actually come down from that damned mountain for this thing. He spends _way_ too much time up there._

"Hey! You! Can't you even answer a single question?" She yelled, running after him. Gray, just stepping into the elevator, turned just in time to see Leaf fly into the elevator. The doors closed behind her. She turned towards Grey.

"What's your problem?" Grey asked.

"_My problem_ is YOU! Why can't you answer a single question? You didn't even apologize for knocking me down!" She huffed. Gray internally smirked. _It seems that I've gotten under her skin_, Gray thought.

"…Alright, fine. You want to know my name? It's Gray. Gray Satoshi. Happy now?" He said.

"Very." She said, still mad. What was it about him that rubbed her the wrong way? Maybe it was his air of anger and resentment, or how his anti-socialness?

The elevator opened and Gray walked out, Leaf close behind. He started walking towards the battle board to see who he was to be battling, when he noticed Leaf following him. He stopped, and Leaf stopped as well. He started walking again, and so did Leaf. He turned to her.

"Alright. Why are you following me?" he asked. Leaf blushed.

"Well, you interest me." She stated. He sighed, continuing his walk towards the schedule board.

"Hm…" Gray said.

"What?" Leaf asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." He said. "It's just that I'm up against an elite four first. Karen, apparently. It should be fun." He said, walking away. Leaf looked at his slot and saw that Gray was indeed facing Karen. She rubbed her hands together. _This'll be interesting,_ she thought.

* * *

**There's chapter two of my second story. Again, sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy. I've been swamped with schoolwork, and what with all of the Christmas chaos, I didn't end up with as much writing time as I originally thought. Of course, having your birthday three days after Christmas adds to the chaos as well… ANYWAY! I am posting a poll on Gray's love pairing. I introduced three of the choices in this chapter, and the fourth will be next chapter. VOTE OR I WILL EAT YOUR SOUL! Have s nice day! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Sup. How's everybody been doing? I've been fine, thank you. Well, I won't be too long. Just a few things and then you're free to read. First, sorry about the poll. I hadn't realized that the display on profile option said no. So, my bad. I fixed it. Second, I'm starting to get faster with my writing skills, so you guys won't have to wait for 2+ months for a chapter. Three, please tell me what you think about the battle; any and all comments are welcome, so I can work on those for the next one! Thanks! One more thing. Due to no inspiration whatsoever, I will not be posting on The New Champion for a while. Now enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Gray walked towards the stadium, hands in his pockets and sunglasses on his face. Glancing around, he saw a large number of people heading towards the battle field, same as him. _They must want to see how Karen battles. Heh. They're in for a nasty surprise, _Gray thought.

He returned Lucario, Gardevoir, and Murkrow and walked into the locker room and sat on the bench, thinking over the pokemon he would use.

_Well, since it's a three on three… I can use him… and her… Ooh and _him_. Oh, the look on their faces will be _PRICELESS_! _Gray thought.

The first round battles were three on three elimination rounds. It consisted of three rounds. Once one pokemon went down, both trainers returned their current pokemon and sent out another. It was a ploy to see trainer's teams early on.

He transferred the three pokéballs that he had chosen to his belt- so that he could get to them easier- putting the rest back into his coat pocket.

A loud horn sounded through the locker room, and he jumped. Muttering under his breath, he stood and walked out onto the battlefield. It was unusually bright in the battle field, and he realized that, even though it was no later than 4:00, they- that is, the league- had set up those spotlight thingies.

Looking around the field, he saw that it was made up mostly of sand and dirt. There was a pond in the middle left hand side of the field.

He strode over to the red trainer corner, and waited. Karen emerged from her side a moment later, and calmly walked over to the blue corner box.

By now, the stadium had become eerily quiet. But, that quiet was shattered as the ref raised his flags and shouted,

"THIS WILL BE A THREE ON THREE ELIMINATION MATCH BETWEEN KAREN OF THE JOHTO ELITE FOUR AND GRAY FROM… er… Hey! Where should I say you're from?" Some of the crowd snickered at the ref's expense.

Gray thought for a moment. He walked over to the ref and told him in a hushed voice. The ref nodded.

"-AND GRAY FROM STARK MOUNTAIN! BEGIN!"

Karen smirked and drew out a pokéball. Gray also smirked and pulled out an ultraball. Karen threw hers first.

"Umbreon, your assistance is needed!"

"…"

Out on Karen's side emerged a black foxlike pokemon. On Gray's side emerged a massive, towering tyrant. Darker green in color, it had armored grooves along its entire body, and its stomach had blue scales.

Umbreon shrank back, ears pressing flat against its skull, as Tyranitar slammed his foot into the ground and roared.

Gray smirked and mentally said to Tyranitar, _"Start off with Earthquake!"_ The large green pokemon roared and slammed his foot into the ground, sending out a massive shockwave towards Umbreon.

To the crowd, it appeared as if Tyranitar had acted of its own accord, and began whispering amongst themselves, saying things like "_Can't he control it?"_ and "_What's he thinking, bringing something like that to a match?"_ Gray just ignored them.

Karen reacted quickly. "Umbreon, use Detect to dodge and then counter with an Iron Tail!" Karen commanded. Reacting, Umbreon's eyes glowed a light blue color as it jumped, dodging the large Earthquake completely. It landed, and set off at a dash, its tail glowing a silvery-metallic color. It jumped and swung its tail at Tyranitar.

"_Tyranitar, dodge with Dig."_ Gray mentally commanded again. Tyranitar, with a speed that should be impossible with his size, burrowed under the ground, completely disappearing before Umbreon managed to even graze him.

The Umbreon started looking around frantically, trying to figure out where Tyranitar was going to emerge. Gray smirked. _And now begins a game of cat and mouse…,_ Gray thought.

"_Tyranitar, emerge and use sandstorm._" Gray told him. Tyranitar roared from underground- causing many of the audience members to flinch, including Umbreon- and exploded from the ground. It punched the ground, sending up a spray of sand from the point of impact. In a matter of seconds, a full-fledged sandstorm was blowing around the field, knocking visibility down to zero.

This wasn't a problem for Gray, however, as he could use his aura-vision to see the pokemon. But Karen isn't so fortunate.

Taking full advantage of Karen's blindness, Gray attacked. "_Tyranitar, use Focus Blast!_" He commanded. Tyranitar grunted and started forming a sphere of orange energy in his enclosed hands. He twisted his hands and then thrusted the sphere into the sandstorm, aiming for Umbreon's general area.

A few seconds later there was an explosion and a cry of pain. Gray smirked. _Bull's-eye._

* * *

**On Karen's side of the field…**

Karen was shocked. Here was this nobody- who they had no info on in the League's database- _beating her!_ And Umbreon is her strongest pokemon to!

_Who is this _Gray_, and how is he so strong? He's commanding without speaking at all- he's telling it what to do, that much I'm sure of; that Tyranitar is being too strategic for anything else to be true- and it even seems as if he's _toying _with me!_ Karen thought.

She heard an explosion, and then heard Umbreon cry out in pain. She had to do something!

"Umbreon, get rid of that sandstorm! Use Rain Dance!" She called out.

Umbreon cried out and fired a ball of blue energy into the sky. It burst and rain started to pour down. The Sandstorm dissipated and Tyranitar was revealed.

_Yes! Score one for weather physics!_

"Now use Moonlight! And hurry!"

* * *

**Back to Gray…**

_Shit. Tyranitar's cover's been blown. Oh well. I suppose I'll just go with plan B now…_ Gray smirked.

"_Tyranitar, use Thunder, then Rock Polish!_" Gray mentally commanded.

The massive beast roared and started sparking. It fired the Thunder at Umbreon, who couldn't dodge because of Moonlight. It managed a whimper before being struck by the bolt, which was powered up by the Rain Dance.  
Tyranitar gleamed and then disappeared in a blur, having gained a massive boost to his already exception speed. He reappeared behind the sparking Umbreon, his fist drawn back.

Gray smirked. "_Focus Punch."_

Tyranitar's fist began to glow a bright white color he punched at Umbreon.

"Umbreon, please, dodge!" Karen shouted. It was to no avail, however, as Tyranitar's Focus Punch connected before Umbreon could blink. It was sent flying backwards, skipping off a rock and into the pond. Gray pointed at the water.

"_Thunderbolt._" He told him. Tyranitar sparked again and another bolt of electricity towards the pond. This one was weaker than the Thunder, but still stronger than normal, because of the Rain Dance.

It struck the pond, electrocuting the pokemon in the pond.

Umbreon floated to the surface, unconscious.

The ref pointed his red flag at Gray. "Umbreon is unconscious! Gray and Tyranitar are the victors!"

Gray gave Tyranitar a nod and returned him.

Karen slowly returned her Umbreon, staring at the ball for a few seconds, before reaching for her next pokemon.

The ref raised his flags. "BEGIN!"

Once more, the two trainers threw their pokéballs and released the pokemon inside.

* * *

**Somewhere in the crowd…**

A group of people sat in disbelieving silence. They had just witnessed an Elite 4's best pokemon taken beaten mercilessly. And Karen was the strongest to boot.

A member of their party spoke up.

"I-I don't believe it… I just saw Karen's Umbreon get completely dominated. Granted, there was a size and power advantage, but still…" The boy uttered.

His sister nodded, agreeing with him, as well as a squinty-eyed man. The redhead was skeptical, however.

"Just who is this _Gray_, though? I've heard of that pokemon Master Red, but who is_ this_ guy?" She asked.

The brunette man spoke up. "I dunno Misty, but this round had to be a fluke. An Umbreon would have an incredibly hard time damaging a Tyranitar, no matter how well trained. I say we just watch and see what happens next." The blunette girl nodded, as well as the other boy, who had a Pikachu on his shoulder.

* * *

The balls opened up and the combatants were revealed.

"Absol, front and center!"

"…"

On Karen's side of the field emerged a large Absol, its sleek moonlight-colored fur gleaming in the lighting and its black crescent-shaped horn shined.

_She obviously takes great care of this one…_, Gray thought.

On his side of the field appeared an old friend of his. And judging by the loud, earsplitting shrieks in the crowd; a certain group of people recognized her.

The pokemon on Gray's side was a large, yellow pokemon with a pair of white wings. She had a pair of black antennae, and black arms and legs. At the ends of her thin arms was a pair of large, white pincers. She buzzed loudly and flew up.

"ROUND TWO; ABSOL VS BEEDRILL! BEGIN!" the ref shouted.

"_Spiral, commence Double Team surprise."_ Gray commanded.

Spiral buzzed and began using Double Team. In a matter of seconds, Karen's Absol was surrounded by Spiral copies.

"_Now, use Flash!_"

Spiral and her copies all burned an intensely bright white color, blinding the Absol.

It stumbled around the field like a drunk, its eyes blinded from the harsh attack.

"_Now, Spiral! Use Silver Wind!"_

With a buzz, the Beedrills flapped their wings and released a large blast of silvery wind.

It raced across the field at high speeds, sweeping the Absol off of its feet and causing serious damage.

The rest of Spirals Double Team dissipated and she flew back over to Gray.

Absol struggled to its feet, and roared. Karen smirked.

Gray then noticed that its horn was glowing.

"Razor Wind."

The Absol swept its horn in an arc, sending out a flurry of small, white twisters. They hurtled down the field.

"_Protect."_ Spiral quickly raised a barrier of green energy, saving her from the brunt of the attack. She still took some damage, though.

"Absol, now use Future Sight! Then Psycho Cut!" The Absol's eyes glowed for a second, then went back to normal. It swept its glowing horn in another arc, sending out a crescent-shaped blade of pink energy.

"_Spiral, try to dodge!"_ The pokemon buzzed and started frantically moving her wings to get enough speed to dodge.

But it was to no avail, however, as the blade moved too swiftly. It slammed into Spiral with deadly force, propelling her backwards into the wall. A large cloud of dust erupted from where she impacted.

Gray extended his aura, trying to see if she was okay or not. He searched for a few tense moments, then sighed in relief.

_She's okay._ He thought.

"_Spiral, quickly! Use a full power Hyper Beam!_" He ordered.

There was no sign that she had heard, other than an orange light starting to appear in the large cloud of dust.

He spared a glance in Karen's direction, and noticed she was watching him intently. He turned fully and her eyes met his.

She blinked and quickly looked away, and the noticed the ball of light.

She paled and shouted, "Absol, look out!"  
The pokemon turned and looked at her, puzzled.

While he did, however, Spiral finished charging her Hyper Beam, and blew away the dust with a single flourish of her wings.

Absol spun around just as she fired, and had no time to dodge. The beam crossed the field in less than a second, slamming into the Disaster pokemon.

There was a violent explosion, and a large smoke cloud erupted.

Absol shot out of the cloud, smashing into the wall across the field.

He groaned, struggling to stand back up from the powerful blow.

Gray sighed. _I had hoped it would be knocked out by Spiral's Hyper Beam. Well, it is and Elite Four's pokemon, after all…_

"_Spiral, finish it with X-Scissor. I want to finish this battle now."_ She nodded and slashed her pincers in an 'X' shape in front of her.

A x-shaped form of energy was sent flying at the helpless Absol. It raced at him, and his eyes widened right before he was hit. Yet another dust cloud was sent up, and cleared after a few minutes.

As it settled, Absol was revealed to be badly beat up.

The ref began to raise his flag. "ABSOL IS UNABLE TO-"He was cut off, however, as the pokemon in question started growling, and managed to stand up.

It howled its name, and slashed its horn diagonally, sending out a black blade of energy.

"_Spiral, dodge it!_" Gray hurriedly commanded.

The Beedrill tried flying out of its path, but she was unprepared and was hit, sending her flying back a ways. She remained flying upright for the moment.

That was, until a blue bolt of energy came out of nowhere and struck her. She flew towards the ground, hitting it hard.

_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! _Gray thought. He looked around, eyeing Absol, when it hit him. _Damn it… Future Sight. I should have remembered about that! I've got to finish it now, before- _His train of thought was interrupted by another shout of from Spiral.

He saw- with no amount of fear for his friend- that Karen had her Absol bombarding Spiral with Ice Beams and Flamethrowers. She was dodging most of them; but she was slowly starting to tire.

_She can't keep going for much longer... One final move…_

Karen called out, "Absol, finish this with Giga Impact!"

"_Spiral, you use Giga Impact as well!"_

The two pokemon did their respective calls, and started racing towards the other at high speeds, cloaking themselves in a spiraling veil of purple and yellow energy.

The two collided in the exact middle of the field, pushing for dominance. A mini-explosion occurred from the large amount of kinetic energy that the two were using. A small cloud of smoke covered the field, and the trainers and audience heard two muffled cries and thuds.

The smoke blew over shortly afterwards, and everyone leaned forward expectantly.

There was a collective gasp in the crowd.

The ref raised his flags.

"NEITHER POKEMON IS ABLE TO BATTLE! THIS ROUND IS A TIE! TRAINERS, SEND OUT YOUR FINAL POKEMON!"

Gray sighed as he returned Spiral.

_You did your best, old friend… take a nice long rest._

Karen had similar thoughts.

There was silence in the crowd.

Not a soul could believe what they were witnessing. Karen, the Elite Four member put in the top 5 worldwide- Champions not included- was being given a severe beating. And not a single one of the members in the audience knew a single thing about her opponent, except for his name, supposed location of origin, and two of his pokemon.

Paparazzi members were taking as many shots as they could of the mysterious _Gray_. Although it would be rather hard to learn much, with his sunglasses on and the odd way the light failed to reach his face, giving him the appearance of the Grim Reaper. His lack of talking didn't help these superstitions, either.

So, it was understandable, that everyone was shocked when he spoke. Many of them thought he might have been mute, except for when he had quietly talked to the ref. His voice rang out across the stadium, clear and deep. Many of the females in the audience felt their hearts flutter, confusing them.

"Well, Karen. You have proven yourself a worthy adversary. Sadly, our little confrontation must end now." He reached up to the pokéball hanging from around his neck.

Karen smirked, withdrawing a pokéball from the folds of her clothes. "Yes, I suppose it will. But, I _will_win. You'll find that my final pokemon is no pushover. In fact, he's never lost."

At that, Gray chuckled darkly. She glared. "What's so funny?!"

He laughed some more, and said, "Oh, that? I just think that it's funny that even now, in the shadow of defeat, you still think you can win."

Karen fumed, mad. She opened her mouth to retort, but Gray cut her off. "Unlike your pokemon, mine will never fail me." He said. "Unlike some people…" He said quietly.

By now, members of the crowd were fuming as well. How dare this… _**nobody**_… insult _Karen_!? The most liked Elite Four member out there- once again excluding Champions.

Now, many were rising from their seats, shouting to Karen to destroy this nobody.

Karen looked around at all the people shouting encouragement to her, and calmed herself. She glared back at Gray.

"No matter how tough you _might_ be, I am still a member of the Elite Four, the best of the best! I'll teach you not to disrespect me!" With that, she threw the ball in her hand. "Spiritomb, come forth! Show this man that we are not to be trifled with!"

There was a startling roar, and out came Spiritomb. The Forbidden pokemon emerged from the Odd Keystone that it had been bound to. It was circular in shape, and had many glowing orbs circling around what appeared to be its face. It shouted out again, and started floating around in circles.

Gray laughed. "Is that it? The way you were just talking about it, I was expecting a Darkrai. Of course, we _are_ on Half- Moon Island, aren't we? That would be priceless." he laughed again. "No, I don't suppose that you'd be brave enough to go hunting for a beast of that caliber." He brandished his pokéball. "Now, I suppose I'll need to show you _my_ trump card, eh? Unlike you, _I_ had the guts to go searching for a Legendary."

Many of the crowd began whispering. A _Legendary?_ He was actually daring enough to go after one?

Gray wound back his arm, hurling his ball out onto the field. "Behold the might of a _true_ trainer!"

The ball opened up, and light exploded everywhere. But it wasn't the normal kind of pokéball light. Rather than the normal white light, it was a pitch black color.

A loud, screeching roar was heard. Karen and the audience covered their ears, but Gray stood there, arms crossed, huge smirk plastered on his face. The light faded, and in its place, stood a leviathan.

Standing at almost fifteen feet, it cast a deep shadow over the small 3 foot Spiritomb. Its pitch-black wings stretched out for several feet to either side of it. It had three golden rings laced down its body, and its head was tipped with two golden spikes pointing to the left and right. Its six legs each had a golden band around it, and it wings had three red spikes on each, pointing downwards. Its tail swept around, and slammed into the ground. As soon as its feet hit the ground, the entire arena distorted.

Everyone in the stadium- except Gray- shrank back in fear at the presence of the Renegade pokemon.

The ref dived for the safety of the nearest bench. He peeked his head out from it just long enough to squeak, "Spiritomb v-v-er-s-sus G…Gir… Giratina. Begin!" And hid under the bench again.

Gray smirked. "Still sure you're going to win?"

Karen just stared in stunned shock. Gray shrugged and yelled, "Giratina, use Shadow Claw!" Then, mentally, "_And then, follow it up with an Ancientpower!"_ Giratina shrieked, and lunged at the poor Spiritomb, its already dark wings glowing black. It sliced its wings at Spiritomb, hitting it and sending it flying. Then, it generated a ball of energy in front of its mouth, and shot it at Spiritomb, hitting it again, causing an explosion.

Karen shook herself out of shock and ordered, "DARK PULSE, BLAST THAT THING!" Spiritomb roared and glowed black for a moment, then a ball of black energy formed at its mouth. Spiritomb shouted and fired a dark chain-like attack.

Gray smirked. "_Counter with your own Dark Pulse._" Giratina screeched and fired its own attack. The two collided in the middle of the field, exploding. A dust cloud swept over the field, obscuring the view. Then, in a second, it all blew over from one mighty flap of Giratina's wings.

The field was revealed, badly destroyed from the previous battles and the current battle. Spiritomb appeared to be relatively unharmed, and Giratina was completely untouched.

Gray smirked. "_Launch into a Shadow Force. Put a lot of power into it. Let's see how 'unbeatable' this Spiritomb really is."_ Giratina answer was to fly into the air and vanish.

Karen gasped and looked around.

_As if that will help,_ Gray thought.

"Spiritomb, use Flash!"

Gray laughed. "What's that supposed to do? Don't you know that Giratina can't be hit-" He was cut off when the Forbidden pokemon unleashed a large blast of light, doing what Karen was aiming for.

"Everything has a shadow!" Karen shouted, and pointed. "Spiritomb, use Telekinesis directly in front of you!" Spiritomb roared and glowed a vivid pink color, and sent out a beam of energy in the direction Karen pointed at. The beam impacted an unseen entity, and encircled it.

A screech of anger revealed the entity to be Giratina, its limbs held in place by the psychic attack. It struggled to get out of its psychic prison, but to no avail.

Karen smirked. "Spiritomb, use a barrage of Shadow Balls!" The pokemon roared and launched a series of shadowy orbs at Giratina, impacting all over its body. The renegade pokemon screeched in annoyance at the damage it was taking.

Gray's fist curled into a ball. _How did she manage to pull that off?_

Losing his focus, he called out, "Try and break loose with Ominous Wind! Fire in every direction!" The pokemon screeched and flapped its massive wings, sending out a black wind in every direction.

The wind knocked Spiritomb over, disrupting the psychic hold on Giratina.

Giratina landed on the ground gracefully, and screeched its defiance. Gray smirked.

"End of the line Karen. _Giratina, use Draco Meteor!"_ He said.

The pokemon screeched and fired an orange ball of energy into the sky. It split into several "meteors" and hurtled towards Spiritomb.

Karen paled and yelled, "Spiritomb, try to dodge! Please!" The pokemon, in its panic to dodge one meteor, accidentally put itself in the path of another meteor. The meteor smashed into Spiritomb, exploding in a fantastic display of force.

Most of the people in the stadium had to shield their eyes from the light caused by the explosion, but after a minute it abated. The crowd looked back towards the field, now completely destroyed.

On the red side, Giratina and Gray calmly stood, waiting for the conclusion.

On the blue side, Karen stood speechless, staring down at her crushed pokemon. The pokemon in question was lying in the middle of a smoking crater, many other craters of varying sizes surrounding it.

The ref, having regained some of his courage, emerged from beneath his bench and stood up, dusting himself off. He stood up, recovering his dignity, and raised one of his flags.

"Spiritomb is unfit to battle! Giratina and Gray are the victors of this round and the match!" He declared.

Karen returned her Spiritomb with a crestfallen look, and stood there, staring at the ball. She was drawn from her stupor by the sound of laughter.

Everyone snapped their attention to the owner of the laughter, Gray. "You did good, but not nearly good enough. If you're the best the Elite Four have to offer, than this is going to be easier than I thought." He smirked and leaped into the air, much higher than a human was capable of, and landed on top of his prized pokémon's head. The massive Legendary screeched and spread its massive wings out to their full span, almost touching the walls of the stadium.

Gray stood atop of his pokemon, and looked around the stadium. His face displayed disappointment, until his eyes reached the group of his former friends. His glare could have stopped an Ursaring dead in its tracks.

The group shuddered as their eyes met nothing. They still couldn't see anything of him, except for his hair that now shined in the glow of the spotlights. The gray color made it shine, and the way the rest of his body as obscured by shadows made him seem almost like a fallen Angel.

Then the moment shattered as Giratina took off into the sky.

* * *

There was a dead silence in the stadium. Nobody could believe, or wouldn't believe, what they had just witnessed. The downfall of an Elite Four.

Slowly, one by one, the crowd wandered out of the stadium, still silent, until there was only Karen and the gang remaining. The group shook off their shock and walked down to the field.

Karen was still staring at the ball in her hand. A few of the members frowned.

"Karen? Are you okay?" One of them asked, concerned.

Karen roused herself from her stupor, and looked over at them. "I will be. Don't worry. I'm just a shocked, that's all." She replied, finally moving the ball and clipping it to her waist. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to the pokemon center to get my pokemon healed."

The group nodded, stepping aside for her to get through. She walked out of the stadium with as much dignity as she could muster.

* * *

A group of people exited the stadium, conversing. They were apparently discussing an important subject, as there were a lot of hand gestures and raised voices. They walked down the path towards their hotel; but little did they know, a figure was in the bushes, listening intently, so as to relay the conversation back to his master.

"-I'm telling you, there's something weird about that guy!"

"Oh really? What? He seems pretty normal to me."

"Well, for one; HE USED MOTHERFUCKING GIRATINA! ONE OF THE STRONGEST POKEMON IN EXISTENCE! How is that normal?!"

"Okay, for one, you're too young to use that language. Two, stop yelling, you're drawing attention." The boy's sister stated. Looking around, the boy saw that he had in fact earned the attention of many of the people hanging around the plaza. He flushed in embarrassment.

"He probably just bonded with it really well or something. And t's not like this is the first time you've seen a Legendary obey a trainer, either. Remember Tobias?" The lunette stated condescendingly. The squinty-eyed breeder nodded, adding to the boy's dismay.

"Come on, not you guys too! Doesn't anybody think that there's something up with that guy? What was his name again anyway? Wasn't it a color or something?" His sister nodded.

"I think it was Gray. Or maybe Grey." They looked at her.

The brunette teen cocked an eyebrow. "Um, aren't they the same, May?"

May shook her head. "No, there is a lot of controversy on the topic. Americans have a habit of spelling different than the rest of the world, so they use _Gray._ But Britain uses the other spelling, _Grey_. Both are the same, yet different. They are both the English language, so it's your choice. I myself prefer _Gray_, but that's just me. I think he spelled it with an _a_." Everybody else stared at her. She blushed, embarrassed at how she had ranted. Gary spoke up.

"Um, what are _Americans,_ and where is _Britain_?" He inquired.

May's face changed from embarrassment to confusion. "I… I don't know. I didn't even know that myself just now. It's like… like I was forced into saying it. Weird." The group nodded, agreeing with her.

* * *

A pair of eyes gleamed as the figure backed farther into the bushes, turning away and setting off at a trot towards the building where his master was residing. Slipping through patches of shadow, his lithe, cat like frame curved and weaved through the obstacles that the forest threw at it. His large, round ears perked, listening for any dangers ahead, while his powerful nose worked to do the same. The Luxray rounded a bend, and, upon seeing the hotel, ran towards one of the many benches situated around the building. He spotted his master sitting on one of the ones next to the lobby doors. He hopped onto the spot next to his trainer. The man smiled and reached down to stroke the pokémon's fur. The pokémon purred in pleasure and looked up, making eye contact and sending the info his gathered to his trainer, through his master's aura. The man nodded and thanked his pokémon, and stood. Luxray hopped down next to him and brushed against his leg. The man walked into the lobby and from there to the elevator. Inside the elevator, he smirked, letting his hand brush along his Luxray.

_It's nice to know that people are talking about me. Despite the spite some insist on showing. I'm just a humble trainer, after all_. He laughed. _Yeah, right. Good one._

The elevator opened and Gray walked out, headed towards his room. He unlocked his door and walked, closing it behind him. He pulled a pair of pokéballs, and lightly tossed them. Out came his two serpents. One was purple in color, with a hood around its head, not unlike a cobra. The other snake had a black colored body, with an oval shaped head, and had two large red fangs sticking out its mouth, and its tail was triangular shaped. The two snakes hissed in greeting to their master, and he acknowledged hem with a nod.

"_I am going to attempt to make up lost sleep. Would you two please see to it that I'm not disturbed this time?"_ the two hissed again, this time signifying that they understood. They slithered over to the door and coiled up, listening for any disturbers. Gray walked over to his bead and collapsed into it, sighing in satisfaction at the comfort granted by the luxury bed. Luxray curled into a ball at the foot of the bed, giving a satisfied purr.

* * *

The gang was waiting in the elevator, watching the numbers slowly counting up to 5. Max spoke up.

"So, how exactly are we going to do this? Judging by the battle we just saw, he could easily trounce any one of us. So, how are we supposed to force him to tell us anything?" He asked.

Gary spoke. "We catch him sleeping and off-guard, of course. And what better time than now, after he just had a hard battle and missed sleep last night?"

"Ooh. Ok." Max said. The elevator pinged and they all walked out, heading down the hallway. They arrived at room 7, and Gary walked forward and banged on the door loudly. The group waited in silence for a few moments, and Gary banged on the door again. They waited again, and Gary was about to bang on the door again when it was suddenly flung wide open, banging into the wall loudly.

They all unconsciously took a step back, terrified of what they were seeing.

In the doorway stood Gray, his serpents flanking him on both side, and Luxray stood in front of him, sparking dangerously. His sunglasses were off, having been left on the nightstand, and his eyes glowed dangerously. The gray one was shining brightly, almost like a search light as it roved over them.

As he recognized them, his eyes narrowed. "What do you want?! I'm _trying_ to sleep!" He shouted.

Gary step forward, and Gray immediately whipped out a silver Desert Eagle from somewhere. "That's close enough! Speak before I decide to use this!" He brandished the gun, and aimed it between Gary's eyes.

"W-we j-just wanted t-to know how you managed to make a Legendary like Giratina obey you, and how you caught it." Gary stammered, staring down the barrel of the gun.

Gray smirked. "I suppose you would. However you don't deserve to know _anything_ about me. I've been burned far too many times in the past to do that… But no, I suppose you'll just come back and ask me again, but with more force… And once again, I will outclass you… And again… And again… AND AGAIN!" Gray said, starting to let his more… insane side show. "No… You'll never win, Gary Oak, grandson of the famous Professor Oak." Gary reeled, stunned. "Oh, yes, I know all about you, as well as the rest of your little band of scum. That's all that any of you are anyway. Scum. Backstabbers." He spat on the floor. "You should be lucky that you're still alive after what you did to Ashton Ketchum, son of Delia Ketchum. Be grateful that I don't kill you right now. Luxray, Thunder Wave." Luxray growled and sent a paralyzing wave of electricity at the group, but they were too shocked to even notice when their limbs went rigid and they fell over. They had never told _anyone_ about what happened that night. So how did Gray know about that?

* * *

Leaf walking back to the lobby when something moved in her peripheral vision. She did whirled and looked about, searching for whatever moved. Upon failing to see anything, she turned around and set off for the lobby again albeit at a faster pace.

In the bushes, a small yellow rodent let out a breath it had unknowingly held. It turned and ran back to its trainer, who was camping in a hidden clearing a mile or so from the hotel.

Scurrying up to its trainer, the pokemon let out a small "Cha!"

The trainer looked down at his pokemon and raised a quizzical eyebrow. The yellow rodent nodded.

The trainer smirked, and moved his head ever so slightly so that his red baseball hat sent his face into shadow. He gave a quiet chuckle.

The small yellow rodent nodded, agreeing, and walked over to where it had marked as its sleeping place. It curled into a ball and fell asleep.

The trainer laughed, and turned his gaze skywards_. _

_I wonder if they will be here… _The trainer thought to himself. He sat down against one of the many trees in the clearing and fell asleep.

* * *

They had called him in as a battle analyzer. He agreed, but for different reasons. He wanted to know if _HE_ would show up. But instead, he had gotten a show from that kid Gray. A trainer strong enough to control a legendary….but then again, _HE_ had controlled three legendaries. He smiled. A tournament that was on a strange location like this was a strong pull factor to bring _HIM_ here. _HE_ likes strange places.

A brief chime rang from across the room. He walked over to check it. It was his Pokegear. He groaned. Cynthia wanted to meet with him **again**. She wanted to trade facts with him **again**. And when Cynthia got talking, she wouldn't stop. EVER. The last time he met with her, he was there from noon till midnight.

He sighed. He decided to just meet with her. He grinned. _Besides, _he thought, _she's eye candy. Nice rack too._

* * *

Ice blue eyes scanned the little town the humans had set up.

"**Filthy humans**," the Pokemon murmured. "**Destroying my beautiful island**."

It drifted aimlessly through the town. It had sensed the presence of many humans in a specific building. It gazed at the sign. _The Arc Hotel_. It rolled its eyes. Humans had strange names for locations. It floated up several floors, looking for a perfect victim. 5 floors up, it found the perfect victim. Horrors filled the victim's mind, delicious horrors. It began to search through the horrors, looking for a nightmare to form.

"**Perfect…**" It licked its lips in anticipation.

* * *

Gray rolled over in his bed, moaning. A brief flash of light filled the room, and Gardevoir appeared, heading over to Gray. She knelt beside him as he cried out, reaching out into the air, as if to hold something. She leaned over him, pressing her forehead against his, and jumping into his dreams.

* * *

_Fire danced and licked at his feet. Gray watched in horror as the corpses of Delia and Pikachu writhing in the flames. Occasionally his mother would call out to him._

"_You were too late, Ashy dear." She would snarl. "You could have saved us, you son of a bitch."_

"_No…you're not my mother…" Gray slowly began to back away._

_Jeers and giggles came from the small burning rodent that used to be his partner. It slowly began to get close to Gray. Gray could smell and see the burning flesh of Pikachu. His mother just giggled and continued to taunt Gray._

"_Miss me, Ashy dear?" she giggled. "Awww, you're so cute."_

_The flames thinned out and Gray saw his old house in ruins. Delia was sitting in the middle petting Pikachu._

"_This is where I died, you know." Delia whispered, barely audible. "All alone. My only companion the constant crackling of the fire around me."_

_Her eyes raised from petting Pikachu to look Gray in the eyes. Gray took a step back. Her eyes were so…dead. He remembered when there was so much love in them. So much life. It was all gone now. She was gone from his life now._

"_Mom..." Gray's voice cracked._

_Delia gave a small smile. "Its ok…Master."_

_Gray's eyes widened._

_Delia slowly began to morph. Her red hair retracted into her head and turned green. Her clothing went from her usual attire to a white dress. A red horn grew from her chest and her dead eyes turned red and filled with worry._

'_I'm here to get you-'_

'-out of this nightmare.'

Gray bolted up. He was barely aware that he was covered in sweat as he walked over to the window and looked out. In the dim light, he thought he saw a figure zoom away into the distance.

'Master?'

"You weren't supposed to see that…"

'What?'

"DAMNIT!" Gray punched his fist into the wall, leaving a large indent.

Luxray gave a small bark from the corner.

"Yes, I know I will have to pay for that."

'Are you okay Master?'

Gray felt Gardevoir wrap her arms around his waist.

"Go to bed, Gardevoir. I'll be fine."

'Master I-'she hesitated. She rested her head on his shoulder. She knew how he got after his nightmares.

"Go. Give me a couple of minutes."

'Fine.' She unwillingly let go of him and walked over to the bed.

In the morning, she found him in the same place she left him.

* * *

**Pyrrhos: Well, there's chapter 3! Hope you liked it! Make sure to vote on the poll. BTW, I switched it to who you **_**think**_** Gray will like. Also, I added another choice. An OC I've been thinking of. And sorry that I didn't exactly announce the fourth girl, but I couldn't fit her in this.**

**TheRoboman: THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!**

**Pyrrhos: ….shut it, Robo. I don't give a shit. GO SIT IN THE CORNER AND THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE!**

**TheRoboman: Fine. *Robo walks into the corner and bangs his head on the wall***

**Pyrrhos: *sigh* Sorry about that. That was my editor and friend, TheRoboman; who also happens to have a story. But he's being TOO LAZY TO WRITE IT!**

**TheRoboman: SHUT UP! MY MICROSOFT WORD'S BROKEN! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!**

**Pyrrhos: YES IT IS! YOU REFUSE TO GET A REPLACEMENT OR TO WRITE IT ON YOUR IPHONE NOTES APP! What's so bad about it anyway?! I wrote my stories on it too! At least, until I got my laptop!**

**TheRoboman: You just don't understand! *turns away and bangs head on the wall again***

**Pyrrhos: *sigh* Whatever. Read, review, and vote! Later!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Sorry about the length, but this was the best that I could do for this one! Read on!**

* * *

Nurse Joy yawned. She had been running the night shift at the Centre, and her shift was almost over. She was really looking forward to sinking into her nice, comfortable bed. She glanced at the clock.

_It's still not 6:00?_ She thought. She yawned again. _This shift is going to be the end of me…_

She glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to rise, and the sky was being flooded with yellows and oranges.

"Lovely sunrise, isn't it?" She jumped. Turning, she saw a man with lavender hair leaning against the counter.

She smiled. "It is, isn't it?"

The man nodded. "Truly. Not many artworks can compare to a nice morning sunrise."

She nodded in agreement. "Yes, very. Is there something that you need? Not many are up at the time, after all." She asked, not unkindly.  
The man nodded. "Yes, there is something you can do for us, Nurse Joy." The man leaped backwards in a show of athleticism and landed next to two figures. Nurse Joy blinked.

"What? And just who are you, anyway?"

"**Exacting questions are good indeed!" **A woman with magenta hair stepped forward.

"**The answer to come as we feel the need!" **The lavender haired man stepped forward.

"**Bringing the blinding white light of evil into the future!" **The magenta haired woman said.

"**Thrusting the hammer of justice down onto the black darkness of the universe!" **The lavender haired man said.

"**Carving our names in the Rock of Eternity!" **A cream colored cat stepped forward.

"**The fiery destroyer, Jessie!" **The woman stated.

"**And with thunderous emotion, I am James!" **The man stated.

"**Wisest of the wise, Meowth!" **The feline declared.

"**And now gather, under the name of Team Rocket!"** They shouted.

Another pair of silhouettes stepped forward.

"Please, you call _that_ a motto? Let us show you the _real_ motto."

"**A shrieking whine! A blast from the past!"** A woman with golden hair stepped forward.

"**Spinning like a Gyro Ball and moving fast!"** A man with green haired stepped forward.

"**To the moon..."**

"**...And beyond..."**

"**...What a blast!"**

"**Administering justice with lightning speed!"**

"**Bashing the bad guys, should we feel the need."**

"**So here's a newsflash from across the wire..."**

"**The real Team Rocket is now on fire!"**

"**Cassidy!" **The woman shouted.

"**And it's Butch!"** The man declared.

"**Teaching the losers a thing or two..."**

"**...The true Team Rocket..."**

"**Us! Not you!"** They both yelled.

Another woman with golden hair stepped out of the shadows. "Alright, break it up you four- er- five."

The magenta haired woman- Jessie- glared at her. "Shut it, Domino. You're just jealous that you don't have a motto."

The golden haired woman- Domino- glared back, and opened her mouth to retort.

Nurse Joy sweatdropped. "Um… Team Rocket? Didn't you guys disband a few years ago?"

Domino rounded on her. "No; we just lost almost every grunt in the organization. Now we're pretty much all elites. Now, hand over all the pokemon you have here." She pointed a razor sharp tulip at the nurse.

The nurse held up her hands to protect her face. "No! These pokemon belong to all of the trainers that are in the tournament!"

Cassidy laughed. "Exactly. That's the point. Now, hand them over."

Nurse Joy paled. "No… I can't do that. I won't let you."

Domino sighed. "Well, then goodbye." She pulled a small dart from her sleeve and stabbed it into Nurse Joy's wrist.

The nurse's eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell to the ground. The rocket members all moved forwards and into the treatment room. Domino handed out a large sack to each of the Rockets.

* * *

_Master, do you sense them too?_

_Yes, I do, Gardevoir._

_Should we do something?_

_Yes, I suppose we should. Just make sure we keep a few to send back to Cyrus. Go grab my coat._

The Gardevoir nodded, and went to get her Master's coat.

Gray smirked. _Look out Rocket. Payback's a bitch._

* * *

A feminine voice came on through the speakers. "ATTENTION ALL POKEMON TRAINERS! THERE HAS BEEN A MAJOR BREAK IN AT THE POKEMON CENTER, AND ALL OF THE POKEMON HAVE BEEN TAKEN! ALL WHO ARE ABLE PLEASE HELP WITH TRACKING DOWN THE THIEVES!" The officer put the microphone down on the table and went to the Pokemon Center.

* * *

"Holy crap. How are we even going to get through here?" A group of teens were standing in the back of the lobby. You might know them. They are Misty, Brock, Gary, Ritchie, May, Max, Dawn, and Tracy. They were staring at the completely filled lobby with a mixture of fear and surprise.

There was a loud crash near the elevator. Most of the people in the lobby turned as best as they could to see what the crash was. For most of them, all they could see was a dark blue hue surrounding a silhouetted figure. For those who _could_ make out the figure, they felt themselves frozen in place.

The figure exuded an aura of extreme danger and pain to those in his way. His eyes scanned the crowd quickly, before latching on to the gang. He smirked, and with an evil glint in his eye, flicked his hand contemptuously.

A horizontal column of light flowed down the lobby, all the way to the door. Anybody who was in the path of the light was shoved to the side by some invisible force.

Gray walked down the now open space created by his technique, and out of the lobby. The light faded behind him as he walked out, and the people forced aside now tumble to the ground, tripping up many others.

* * *

"Well team, we did it. Now we just need to get these back to the boss, and then we're home free."

The Team Rocket agents were gathered in a small warehouse located in the forest. It appeared to have once been used to store building materials, as there were a few rusting tools and equipment lying around in random spots. The agents were gathered around the pokéballs that they had stolen from the Centre.

Currently, they were waiting for the drop ship that was being sent to pick them up, and had two of Rocket's remaining grunts stationed at the front doors, keeping an eye out for the helicopter.

* * *

Gray walked into the plaza, and threw a pokéball. The sphere burst open. From the white light a winged quadruped emerged.

The pokemon had two large, red wings and a long, blue tail. It had a white underbelly, and four blue legs. Its head had three blue spikes emerging on each side, and it had two red ridges extending over its eyes.

The Salamance roared. Gray patted its head and swung up onto its back.

_Let's go._**  
**

* * *

Salamance landed in the tree cover next to the warehouse. Gray returned him and pulled out two other pokéballs, and threw them down lightly next to him. From the balls emerged two canine pokemon. One had a gray body with sleek black fur, with a bushy tail. The second had a black body and a red underbelly. Two large horns grew outwards and curved back from its head. Both dogs narrowed their gleaming red eyes.

"Alright. We need to get into that warehouse. Houndoom, you take out the left guard. Mightyena, you take out the right one. And _please_ try to do it quietly this time. No screw ups this time. Got it?" The two canines nodded, and with a quiet bark, sprinted off in opposite directions to flank the two grunts, who were starting to nod off.

Houndoom struck first, as he had a slightly shorter run. The grunt didn't even have time to scream. In a matter of three seconds, Houndoom had ripped out the grunt's throat and had begun to drag the corpse behind a bush.

As the grunt went down, the other grunt turned towards Houndoom, reaching for something on his belt, before he was struck from behind by Mightyena. Mightyena proceeded to rip out that grunt's throat as well. Gray stood up from the bush he been crouched in, and walked up to the one Mightyena had killed.

Upon searching the body, he found three pokéballs and a small firearm. He pocketed the items and motioned for the dog to take the body away.

Gray returned the two canines and slowly crept into the warehouse.

* * *

Gray slid behind one of the few crates in the warehouse, and listened to the Rockets bicker among themselves. As each individual spoke, he mentally made a list of the agents.

_So. Jessie, James, and Meowth. Butch and Cassidy. And last but by far not least, Domino._

He pulled out yet another pokéball, and tossed it lightly across the room. The ball snapped open with a brief flash of light, released the creature. The ball flew back to Gray's hand and he pocketed it. From the sphere emerged a small black fox pokemon.

_"Wait for my signal_." Gray told the Umbreon. She nodded. He tossed another ball in front of him. From the ball emerged a large, four legged yellow spider.

_"Galvantula, climb up the wall and wait above the targets. On my signal, paralyze them."_ The EleSpider pokemon nodded and started to scale the wall in front of it.

_"Umbreon, use Screech in that direction. And make it loud."_ The pokemon nodded and released a piercing howl in the direction of a corner opposite the two. All of the Rocket Agents jumped and started looking around quickly for the noise.

Domino stood and peered around. "Who's there? Show yourself!" She pulled out a small pistol, but before she could do anything, Galvantula used a Thunder Wave on the group, making them unable to move.

"Who are you?" Domino said. The man cackled.

"What, don't you remember me? No?" He looked around. "I thought that the people who ruined my life would at least have the decency to remember me. What a shame. Maybe this will spark your memory."

Gray pulled a small first generation pokedex from one of his coat's numerous pockets, and chucked it at them. It skidded to a halt next to Jessie's foot, and the woman stared at it for a while.

"Show that to your boss after he bails you idiots out of jail. In the meantime, I think that I'm entitled to some fun." He cracked his knuckles, and moved forward menacingly.

Jessie and James screamed. "Not in the face!" They yelled simultaneously. Gray sweatdropped. He grabbed the three sacks that contained the pokeballs and walked back to where he stood previously.

He pulled out a pokeball and tossed it to the ground next to him. It opened and released a green pokemon. The pokemon had two flowered bouquets at the end of both of her hands. A green mask covering the upper part of her face, except for her red eyes. She had what seemed like white hair on top of her head, completing the humanoid look.

The Roserade turned towards her Master, a questioning look on her face. _What is it, Master?_

_"I need you to-"_

Gray was cut off, however, by a rather loud roar and heavy impact. The next second, the warehouse doors banged open with a heavy crash. Gray whirled looking at the doors a mixture of slight awe and distaste, but mostly distaste.

He quickly returned his pokemon that were currently out and whipped out a different pokeball.

_"Gardevoir, get me out of here! Teleport!"_

Gardevoir came out and quickly grabbed Gray's arm. He turned to the Rocket Agents. "Until next time." With that, Gardevoir's eyes flashed and the two were gone.

* * *

A pair of red eyes watched the flash of a Teleport. The owner of the red eyes smirked. Now that _he_ was gone...

A small, mischievous "Chaa" came from his shoulders.

_Yup_, he thought. _This will be fun._

* * *

A small flash of light blasted outwards from an unknown source. When it faded, a man and a Gardevoir were seen standing there. The man looked around. The lobby was empty, despite how crowded it had been previously.

"_Was it him, Gardevoir?"_

_I am afraid so, Master. It appears that our mission just got that much harder._

The man sighed and pulled out two other pokeballs, releasing Murkrow, who flew up to his favorite perch on the man's shoulder, and a Lucario, who merely stood there with his arms crossed.

Murkrow nipped the man's ear in greeting and looked about with a malicious gleam in its eye. The man lifted up the two large bags of pokeballs and began to move, when something crashed to the ground loudly. A feminine squeak followed.

Gray looked around for the source of the noise, and spotted an overturned plant pot.

"Alright, whoever you are, you have five seconds to come out! Five... Four... Three... Tw-"

"Wait, its just me!" A girl leapt out from behind the counter, landing in front of Gray in a dramatic pose. Gray sweatdropped. "Leaf? Why were you behind the counter?" He asked.

She grinned. "I was waiting for whoever stole the pokemon to come back and try to take more! Then I would've caught them and turned them in for that reward!" She said, waving her arms in a dramatic manner.

Gray nodded slowly, then froze. "Wait... REWARD?! There's a reward?" He shouted.

She nodded. "A cash amount of 1,000,000 pokedollars for whoever finds the thieves and brings them in. Why?" She asked. But by this time Gray was once again banging his head on the wall, muttering "Stupid, stupid,stupid..."

Leaf sweatdropped, but noticed the bags by Gray's feet. "What's in the bags?"

Gray quickly stiffened and scooped up the bags in a matter of seconds. "...Why?"

She shrugged. "Just curious. I'm guessing that you ran into the criminals, judging by the way you were banging your head on the wall."

Gray shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. Why? Is there a reward for the pokemon too?"

She nodded. "Same amount as the criminal's price. Its really rather excessive, thou-" She looked around. "Gray? Where'd you go?" The lobby was empty, except for her. Shrugging, she resumed her search for clues.

* * *

Gray passed one of the three bags to Lucario. "_Take that back to HQ, and be back in no less than three hours. Don't get spotted."_ He and Gardevoir carried the other two towards the police station.

Knocking on the door with his closed fist, he started thinking about what he could do with a million pokedollars. _Okay, first, the food, then the stock market. Then maybe I'll get a mansion, or some really cool car. Or-_

The door swung wide open, revealing Officer Jenny, the on-duty Officer. Go figure.

She narrowed her eyes at the sight of the two large burlap bags, which had many round bulges.

"Come inside."

* * *

Gray walked out of the police station, a large smirk upon his face. He was currently sifting through a stack of 1,000 pokedollar bills.

He pocketed the money and walked in the direction of the hotel, Gardevoir following.

As he was walking, he was suddenly buffeted by a large gust of wind, which quickly subsided. Without looking, he said, "About time you returned Lucario. I was beginning to think something had happened to you."

Standing behind him, with his back turned, the Lucario shrugged. "_It has been a while since I had to move that fast, Master. I had to warm up."_

Gray nodded and resumed walking, the two pokemon following. Murkrow flew out of a tree he had gone into when Gray had gone into the station, and reclaimed his shoulder perch, cawing.

* * *

From the bushes, a figure watched the proceedings with watchful blue eyes. The man had smooth white hair that reached down his back, and wore a red collar around his neck. After having his fill of the transpiring events, he turned and ran deep into the woods.

* * *

Atop a hill, a person appeared on the top. She looked down on the valley on the other side of the hill, slowly memorizing every inch of the town. When her gaze reached the plaza, she froze, then looked closer.

_Definitely him._

She pulled out a small wireless earpiece and attached it to her ear, turning it on.

"Hello, HQ? HQ do you copy?"

There was some static, then a male's voice replied. "Yes, we read you loud and clear Beta. Go ahead."

"I have reached the location, and have visual. Do I make contact?"

There was another burst of static, as well as some shuffling sounds, then a different voice came on, but still male.

"At once, Beta. And make sure to give him my regards, would you Sophie?"

The girl, Sophie, winced. "Lord Cyrus, you should know better than to use names on the radio!"

There was a shuffling sound, likely him shrugging his shoulders. "Just move in. Cyrus out."

The sound cut off, and Sophie pulled out the earpiece, returning it to her pocket.

"Well then Gray, I say that its about time that you meet your new partner." She giggled and walked down the hill towards the hotel.

* * *

A man walked calmly into the Pokemon Centre, looking at the match up board. Without saying anything, he walked back out after finding his name.

* * *

Cynthia calmly sipped her tea, relaxing back into the padded chairs of the coffee shop.

_It's nice being able to just get away from the responsibilities of a Champion and just have a nice cup of tea. Although, it probably won't be long before some fan recognizes me and begs for my autograph, then the rest of the shop gets alerted, and suddenly I'm being swarmed by people. So, I should pro-_

_Whoa there, hot guy alert._

Cynthia looked over the man. The was tall, muscular, although not in a steroid way, but his gray hair was the most noticeable feature.

Although, the pokemon flanking him drew the eye too.

The Lucario was well-groomed and looked well fed, and he was in possession of a fair amount of battle scars. He gave off a powerful aura, discouraging any trainers from challenging him so far.

The Gardevoir looked powerful, too. Her ballroom dress shone in the light of the coffee shop, and her hair gleamed. Her long, elegant arms were spotless.

The Murkrow on his shoulder, while unevolved, looked very powerful too. Its black witch hat was pristine, adding to its aura of authority.

She watched as he ordered a Hot Chocolate, and made a note to keep a tab on him.

* * *

Gray sat down next to a window table and looked out at the lush garden growing behind the shop as he sipped his hot chocolate. Gardevoir sat down across from him and Lucario next to her.

"_What's on your mind Master?"_

Looking up from his hot chocolate, he replied, "Nothing, Lucario. Just thinking."

"_About what?"_

Gray sighed, and put down his now empty mug. "Fine. I've been thinking about that night again. I dreamt about it again last night, except this time it felt... _different__..."_

_"What do you mean, _different?"

"What I mean, Lucario, is that this one didn't feel natural. Not that any of the others did either, but this felt less so."

Gardevoir nodded.

"_He is correct. I clearly felt his distress even through the shell of the pokeball. I had to pull him out, and I feel that had he stayed in there, he would have sustained serious mental damage."_

Lucario stroked his chin, thinking. "_I will look into this. For now, you need to focus on the tournament and obtaining more pokemon for Galactic."_

Murkrow cawed, and nipped Gray's ear. He winced and reached up to pet the crow, still thinking.

* * *

A man with spiky brown hair opens the door to the coffee shop and quickly strides inside. He pauses for a moment, his blue eyes scanning the crowd. They light up when he spots a familiar blond haired woman, and quickly walks over to her. Taking a seat, he waved over a waiter.

"So Cynthia, what did you want to talk about?" He asked, looking her over.

She looked up from the newspaper she was reading and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the waiter.

"What would you like, sir?" He asked.

The man replied, "Just a Cappuccino, thank you." The waiter nodded and walked off, and the man returned his attention to the Sinnoh Champion. "I apologize, Cynthia. Please continue."

The blonde woman sighed. "As I was about to say, I wanted to ask your opinion on some new matters that have recently come to light."

His interest sparking, the man asked, "Really? Like what?"

"Like the recent volcanic activity in the upper west corner of this region, as well as a certain tournament participant." She said.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Volcanic activity? I haven't heard about that."

She nodded. "That's a good thing. The League sees it best that we keep that knowledge under wraps, lest it cause mass panic in the area around the Mountain."

"Are you sure that its not just Heatran being active? It's a perfectly logical explanation."

Cynthia shook her head. "Positive. If it was, it would be merely Stark that's acting up. Instead, most of the surrounding mountains are acting up as well, and they haven't had any recorded activity _ever_. Its like there's something else out there, causing it."

She leaned forward slightly, causing her... assets, to rest on the table. The man blushed, but it went unnoticed by Cynthia. "Do you have any ideas, any at all, about what might be behind the volcanic activity?"

The man slowly nodded, briefly peeking downwards, before looking back up again. "I have a couple of guesses, but that's all that they could be right now. Guesses. I'd like to see the mountains close up, if possible."

She sighed, leaning back. "I thought so, but I had to ask. I'll see what I can do about getting you a close up, but no guarantees. Thanks for your time, Blue." Setting down her empty mug, and grabbing her purse, she walked out of the shop.

* * *

Sitting at the table adjacent to the duo, a person set down the newspaper they had been "reading". They made a couple of notes on a pad and picked up their own bag, and promptly exited the shop.

* * *

After leaving the shop, Gray walked back to his hotel. Flanking him as usual were his pokemon. Upon reaching the hotel, he paused. He could hae sworn that someone had called his name just now. Shrugging, he proceeded on.

* * *

_"My lord, the Fallen Chosen One has been located. What do you wish us to do?"_

A figure turned to the speaker. _"For now, my loyal servant, we do nothing but watch. It is not our place to meddle in the affairs of mankind."_

The first speaker bowed. _"As you wish."_ He then turned and left the large chamber.

The figure turned back to a large sphere. The orb was giving off a pale red pulse, but when the figure touched it, it changed into a rapid series of pictures.

_"Fragments, what can be, what will be, what could have been, all so much. And yet, only some are true, or could be true."_ The figure smirked. _"Well, we shall see which ones pertain to your fate, Ash Ketchum."_

* * *

**And that's a wrap for this chapter. Sorry about the long wait, I've been getting writer's block for a while, as well as me getting hooked on paying Voltz, a Tekkit version. That, as well as the new release of Forge Island on Halo 4, and wrapping up AC III, I've been rather busy.**

**So, who do you think this new entity is? You'll have to wait and find out!**

**Unless I change my mind in the two months that it seems to take me to write this, there should be a battle scene next chapter.**

**I'll leave it at that! I already know who it is, but try and guess! (It shouldn't be too hard. I left some good clues.)**

**Until next time, Pyrrhos, signing off!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

"Your attention please. If your pokemon was stolen last night, please come down to the station to pick it up." The Officer's voice rang out throughout the hotel building, gaining the attention of all the trainers who had had their pokemon in the Center at the time of the robbery. Many immediately rushed out the doors and toward the police station, eager to see if their pokemon was okay.

Watching calmly from the station window, Jenny sighed. She hoped that there wouldn't be too much chaos when they started to arrive.

* * *

The lobby emptied quickly, almost too quickly, she noted. Good for her though. Less chance of being spotted. Even less chance of her being noticed. Looking around, and seeing nobody watching, she went into the elevator and pressed the fifth floor button, and leaned against the wall.

* * *

Jenny sighed and leant against a wall. They had gotten about half of the retrieved pokemon back to their trainers, but there was still a large crowd. It didn't help that the man who had given them to her had only managed to get two thirds of them. He had said that the other ones were gone, but she had feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that that wasn't true.

* * *

The referee wiped some sweat off of his brow, glancing at the hot sun. He was waiting for the trainers that were set up for the match that he was supervising. He shifted his stance as he waited for them to come out of the tunnel.

After about five more minutes of heated waiting, the trainers showed up. The blue trainer came out of his tunnel first, and the ref could easily tell that he was no more than 11 or 12 years old; as shown by his youngster rank clothing. His cap was on backwards, and he proudly wore his shorts, like all youngsters did.

The other trainer, though, was more perplexing. Despite the hot weather, he wore a red vest and blue jeans, with a black tee shirt under the vest.

The ref wearily stood from his position on the bench, and picked up his flags from the table. Walking up to his box, he raised both his arms and began to recite that which every pokemon league referee said.

"With the challengers in their corners, the match may now begin. Trainers, do you know the rules?" Both nodded. "Then let the battle commence! Release your first pokemon!"

The youngster grabbed a pokeball from his shorts, and struck a dramatic pose before throwing it. "I choose you, Wartortle!"

The turtle called its name, performing a flip. The youngster laughed. "Let's see you beat my Wartortle. He hasn't lost a match yet."

The other trainer didn't respond except for plucking a sphere from his belt and lobbing it onto the field silently.

The ball burst open and released the signature blast of light, forming into a massive form. It slammed its foot onto the ground and roared out its name-"LAX!"

The trainer merely pointed at the Wartortle. The behemoth nodded and started to charge at the turtle, drawing back a glowing fist.

The turtle paled to a violet color, and shrank back, terrified. The pokemon's trainer was in a similar way, but he shook it off. "Wartortle, you have to dodge!"

The turtle shakily nodded and attempted to dodge to the side, but the Snorlax merely changed direction and slammed its fist into it, sending the turtle flying. It hurtled backwards, slamming abruptly into the retaining wall, sinking into it. After a second, it fell out of the wall, leaving a Wartortle-shaped hole in the wall, and collapsed, swirls in its eyes.

The ref raised his red flag, and declared, "Wartortle is unable to battle. This round goes to the red corner!"

The youngster stared in disbelief for a second, then shook his head and returned his friend. The Snorlax stayed out, so he thought for a second, before grabbing another ball and tossing it into the air, with another dramatic pose.

The ball released a humanoid shaped pokemon, and when the light died down, its massive muscles were visible. The red lines laced over its body bulged as blood rushed through them, and the pokemon flexed its arms. The Machoke cried out and crossed its arms, waiting for its orders.

Once again, the other trainer showed no reaction, other than once again pointing towards the Machoke.

The massive Snorlax rushed towards the fighting pokemon, this time both of its fists glowing.

The youngster smirked. "Machoke, intercept it with a cross-chop!" The Machoke grunted and thrust its arms upward in an X, just as Snorlax brought its left fist downwards. The arms caught the punch, and stopped it, but this clearly put a strain on the fighting pokemon, as beads of sweat fell down its rough hide.

But the other trainer merely smirked, and snapped his fingers. The snorlax then uppercutted Machoke with its other hand, sending the fighting pokemon flying backwards, landing roughly 15 feet away. It slowly struggled back up, but the mysterious trainer showed no mercy. He pointed at the downed pokemon, and the Snorlax opened its massive mouth, and fired an icy beam straight at the Machoke, colliding and freezing it.

The ref once again raised a flag. "Snorlax is victorious! Blue Trainer, send out your remaining pokemon!"

Shaking, the youngster nodded and returned his Machoke. With a sigh, he let his head droop. "I forfeit. I'm no match for this guy." The ref nodded in acknowledgement, and raised the red flag one last time. "The blue corner has forfeited, therefore, victory goes to the red corner!"

The crowd cheered for the great battle, but the trainer merely returned his behemoth and walked out of the stadium.

* * *

Stretching, Gray walked out of his room, his ever-loyal pokemon following behind. Upon exiting though, he ran into someone, knocking them both back.

Looking up at who he ran into, he made eye-contact with a person he wished he'd never met.

The other person, on the other hand, was beginning to tremble in fear, due to the fact that they'd run into Gray.

Straightening up, Gray promptly turned and walked into the conveniently open elevator, followed by his pokemon, and pressed the button. The doors closed, and the person released a pent up breath, standing up and dusting himself off, and straightened his brown hair.

Eyeing the elevator, the teen opted for the stairs instead, not wanting to run into the trainer again so soon.

Arriving at the base of the stairs, he waited a second to catch his breath, as even going down five flights of stairs could be a bit of a workout.

After catching it, he walked over the wall that held the vid phones, and took a seat next to an open one, unaware that he was being watched.

Dialing in a number, he patiently waited while the call went through. When it stopped ringing, an old man's tired voice spoke; "Hello? Who is this?"

Turning on the video function, the teen replied, "Hey Grandpa, its Gary. I wanted to ask you about something."

The old professor's brightened at seeing his grandson. "Ah, hello Gary. I was wondering when you were going to cal again. How are you and the rest doing?"

"We're doing well, but that's not why I called. Grandpa, I wanted to ask you about my father."

The old man winced, Gary noted. Cautiously, he asked, "I-I see. What would you like to know?"

Sighing, Gary said, "Everything. I want to know who he was, what he did, and what happened to him. Please."

The Professor frowned, but gave a small nod. "Alright. I know how much this means to you. You see, your father was much like you. He was an avid pokemon enthusiast, going for the best of the best, even going so far as to obtain the three Legendary Birds of Kanto once upon a time. His starter pokemon was a Charmander that I gave to him for his 11th birthday, and he became a powerful trainer. But at the start, he didn't realize he main importance of treating his pokemon with friendship, until his friend Red showed him the power of it."

At this, Gary cut in. "Wait, hold on. Red? As in, Pokemon Master Red?"

Oak nodded, and chuckled. "Yes, the very same. They were fierce rivals, almost an exact copy of you and Ash back in the day."

Gary winced, but Oak carried on, not noticing. "They went to the very end with each other, even through the Elite Four. Your father beat Red at almost every turn, even acquiring the title of Pokemon Champion."

"He did? I never heard that."

Oak chuckled. "Not exactly true. Your father was the one Champion to gain and lose his title in the period of an hour."

Gary gasped. "That was him? All those stories were about him?"

Oak nodded. "Needless to say, losing the best thing a trainer could hope for to his rival made your father distraught, and he tackled the other regions with a passion."

"So then what happened to him? You said he died."

Oak rubbed his forehead. "That is what I believe happened. I lost contact with him around a year or so after your's and your sister Violet's birth. I never met your mother though. You were brought to me by your father, and he asked me to watch over you two, and I have."

Gary nodded. "That you have. So can you tell me anything about Red then?"

"Yes, I could. But, I don't think that would be wise. He prefers his privacy."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "So he's alive, then? He disappeared years ago."

"Yes, he's very well alive. But how much of him actually _is_ alive though, I can't say. The boy locked himself atop Mt. Silver, before you began your journey. There's been no contact with him, and attempts at getting to him have been unsuccessful. He's a ghost in all but life."

Gary nodded. "Well, thank you Grandpa. I appreciate you telling me all of this."

The old man nodded and moved to end the call.

"One last thing though."

The Professor leaned back, eyebrows raised. "Oh? What else?"

Gary was silent for a moment. "...can you tell me when Ash's pokedex was last activated, and where?"

"Now why would you want to know that?"

"Just tell me, please."

"Alright, but it'll take a bit of time, though. I'll send you an e-mail on your pokegear when I've got it."

Gary nodded. "Thanks Grandpa. And actually, another thing. What was my dad's name?"

Oak looked up from the other monitor and made eye contact with Gary.

"Blue."

* * *

Gray exhaled, and leaned back, closing his eyes. Listening to the sounds of the forest, he contemplated the tournament. It seemed a bit coincidental, all of it.

All of the people he used to travel with were here, with the exception of his Unova counterparts. He wasn't sure what happened to them.

His old enemies were also present, or at least, were.

And he saw the rest of his old rivals on the matchups list.

Why was he seemingly being reunited with the very people that messed up his life?

Opening his eyes with a sigh, he thought about how the tournament was progressing.

So far, he's already beaten a 4th tier Elite member, and made his presence known. There was some mystery trainer who was silent through the course of his match, but still commanded a powerful Snorlax, and the Pokemon Champions themselves were competing as well.

He hoped that Cyrus knew what he was doing when he decided to infiltrate this setup.

And there was the fact that this island was also rumored to house a Legendary.

He just hoped that he made it through all of this without too much hardship.

* * *

From the skies, a man watched the small island with an appraising eye. His other eye was covered by a red monocle-screen type thing, framed by a black 'U'.

His green hair curled upwards on the sides and top of his head, and he leaned on his silver cane heavily. A black cloak was draped around him obscuring his body and neck.

"Well, what do you think?"

The man turned to watch his colleague stride up and take a place next to the window, looking down at the small town set up.

"About what, exactly?" The new arrival asked.

"Is what we seek located here?"

The other man nodded. "Yes, it would seem so. Allow me to scan the immediate area for a second though." He pulled out a tablet from his lab coat, and tapped the screen a few times, then looked up. "Yes, what we seek is indeed here."

"Good. Then we shall return to base for now, and prepare."

Turning back to the window, he uttered, "And begin the rebirth of Team Plasma."

* * *

Gray glanced around the clearing cautiously, watching. The trees lightly swayed in the gentle breeze. The brush rustled, but whether from the wind or something moving through it, Gray hadn't figured out yet, as he was still attempting to locate his opponent.

A movement in the corner of vision alerted him, and he wheeled about, only to block a speedy right hook that was racing at him. Parrying it to the side, he retaliated with a sweeping low-kick, but his opponent merely jumped above it, and slammed Gray with a left jab.

Gray slid back a few inches from the force behind the attack. He smirked, and suddenly appeared directly in front of his opponent, not even giving them time to react as he slammed them with a brutal left hook that sent them flying backwards into a tree, denting the trunk a little.

His attacker staggered back to their feet, and shrugged off the debris that had coated them. Crossing their arms, the enemy closed their eyes for a moment, before opening them in an instant and launching forward at inhuman speeds.

Gray, anticipating this, smirked, and did the same, rushing to meet his opponent as the two played a game of chicken.

At the last possible second, both turned slightly so that they wouldn't collide, but both delivered a fierce volley of blows as they passed the other, leaving both with breathing harder as they slowed, facing each other again.

Gray wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Well done, Lucario. I think that should be enough for today."

His faithful pokemon nodded, and walked back over to Gray, handing him a water bottle, which was taken with a nod of thanks.

After finishing it, Gray released a breath, then asked, "So how did I do?"

"_Well, better than last time, but your Aura sensing still needs work, and your technique is still a bit sloppy. Other than that, not much needs to be done."_

With a sigh, Gray nodded. "Alright. We'll practice more lat-"

BOOOOM!

The ground shook from the force of an explosion, catching the two off guard as they whirled, staring at the massive black cloud that erupted not too far from them.

Gray turned to Lucario. "Check it out?" The jackal nodded, and the two raced off.

* * *

"Come on, Rosa! You can do better than that!"

"Shut up, Nate! Not everyone's as good as you are!"

Laughter echoed from the sidelines. "That's right! Nate's too strong for us!"

Her partner chuckled a bit as well. "Yeah, we can't all be as good as you, Nate!"

The two continued to chuckle a bit, until they saw Nate's and Rosa's faces, and started to laugh even more.

Rosa huffed. "Shut up! Magmortar, use Fire Blast!"

Nate watched as the attack drew nearer, "Electivire, counter with Hyper Beam!"

Rosa's eyes widened. The orange beam of power rushed out past and through the fire blast, absorbing it into the beam's power, and collided with Magmortar, exploding and hurling the fire pokemon through a few trees.

Several bird pokemon took flight from the explosion disturbing their nests, and they locked onto Rosa.

She gave a small cry of fear as they started to bomb her, before any of her friends could react to the new development.

As they were about to start to hit her, a figure darted from the trees and grabbed Rosa, pulling her out of the line of fire, and setting her down next to her friends, before pulling out three pokeballs and lobbing them in front of the flock.

They burst open, and revealed an Absol, Houndoom, and Magnezone. The three pokemon nodded to their trainer respectively, and faced the mass of flying type pokemon.

"Houndoom, Fire Blast! Absol, Razor Wind! Magnezone, Discharge!"

The three complied and fired their attacks, eliminating all but three of the flying types. A Mandibuzz, a Fearow, and an Altaria.

The three flew past the attacking pokemon, and homed in on the humans.

More specifically, the person that had decimated their numbers. The man leapt to the side as the Fearow flew past with a drill peck, but the Altaria fired a Flamethrower that went right for him, but it was blasted away by an Aura Sphere.

Nate, Rosa, and their two friends whirled to see a Lucario standing behind them, already charging up another attack.

They heard a voice in their heads. "_Move._" They looked around stupidly for a second before an attack came flying straight at them, and the threw themselves out of the way, just in time too as the Mandibuzz was about to rush them with a powerful Brave bird attack, but as they dove out of the way it got blasted by Lucario's Dragon Pulse, which knocked the bird of prey out of the sky.

By the time Mandibuzz was dealt with, the other two had already been dealt with as well by the man and his other three pokemon.

Lucario walked up to his trainer as they observed the carnage, before the trainer returned his other pokemon and walked over and tapped the Mandibuzz with a pokeball, capturing it, before he stored the ball in the folds of his coat.

The other trainers, meanwhile, stared stupidly as the man walked up to them. They were shaken out their reverie though as he spoke, "So which one of you decided it was a good idea to have a battle in the middle of a nesting ground?"

Nate shakily raised his hand, and the man sighed. "Well, its fine now, but be a bit more careful next, 'cause I may not be there to help you out next time."

The teen nodded, and the man smirked. "Good. I'll be seeing you four later then."

"Hold up. We should at least treat you to lunch for your help. What do ya say?" He turned to see the older girl had approached him.

Turning fully, he shrugged. "Sure, why not? I'm never one to turn down a meal." He chuckled. The girl laughed, and pointed to her friend.

"Yeah, Hilbert's the same way. Still not sure how he's not a walking blimp."

The other person, now identified as Hilbert, blushed. "Hey! It's not my fault that everything tastes so great."

"Uh huh..." She replied, raising an eyebrow at the man. He laughed, and walked with them back to their camp.

* * *

As they sat around the pot stewing above the fire, they sat in silence for a bit, before Hilbert spoke up.

"So, uh, not to sound rude, but who are you? You already know me, I'm Hilbert, and that's Nate and Rosa." He said, pointing to the other two.

"And I'm Hilda!" The other girl piped up.

Hilbert sighed. "Yeah, and that's Hilda."

The man nodded. "Well, nice to meet you and all that stuff. I do suppose it would courteous to tell you who I am, wouldn't it?" He said, seemingly to himself. "My name is Gray. Gray Satoshi."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Gray. You have some rather powerful pokemon it seems. How long have you been a trainer?" Nate asked.

"Roughly nine years."

The group's eyes widened slightly, and Hilda whistled. "Well, I bet your a Champion by now, eh?" She said teasingly, nudging him flirtatiously.

He hung his head slightly. "No. That option has long since been unavailable to me, sadly."

She backed away. "How so? Anyone who's strong enough can take on th-"

"It's not like that. Not one bit. If you don't mind, could we talk about something else?" He interrupted.

They all recoiled at the venom in the man's voice, and an awkward silence ensued, until the meal finished cooking.

"Meals done!" Rosa announced happily. She picked up a ladle and distributed the stew to five bowls, passing one to each.

They all grabbed a spoon and began eating. But not a second later, Gray held up an empty bowl, refilled it with the ladle hanging from the side of the pot.

"What?" He asked, noticing them all staring.

Rosa put her spoon in her bowl and looked at him. "How did you eat it all that fast? You got it a second ago."

He looked at his bowl for a second, then looked back up. "I told you. I love a good meal."

They sweatdropped and turned back to their own meals, and ate in somewhat stupefied silence.

* * *

Moving away from its position above the group, a pokemon levitated down into a clearing, before vanishing in a flash of brilliant violet light.

* * *

**Hey guys! I'm sorry about the long wait. I've been enjoying my summer a bit _too_ much! My inspiration's been dead for a while too, so it took me a while to get started on this chapter at all! And if some parts seem of a different quality or feel, that's probably because I wrote small chunks of this chapter over the course of a few weeks. I only started the last two-thousand or so words yesterday, when I got bitch slapped by my inspiration. So, again, sorry for the wait. And I'm sorry I couldn't make this chapter longer, but I wanted to get something out to you guys! I'll try harder next time!**

**Also, I think I'm going to take down the poll now, as I've been getting other ideas for pairings as well, and just adding them into the poll would spoil the surprise and make everything more invalid.**

**Review Responses:**

**Luckenhaft: I have plans for them later on, don't worry.**

**Are all the names used: Yes. Yes I do.**

**So, for now, Read and Review! But please review. That shit keeps me going and gives me a nice laugh.**

**So for now, Pyrrhos, signing off!**


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